Blood & Chocolate
by T1gerCat
Summary: In 1948 Jasper made a choice and remained a nomadic vampire with Peter and Charlotte. In 2005 Bella made a choice and remained in Phoenix. In 2017 the two would meet, drawn together by blood and chocolate. Is fate (and the slight issue of them being different species) going to keep them together or tear them apart?
1. Chapter 1

_**Blood and Chocolate**_

Chapter 1

 **\- 2005 -**

"Papercut"

The human in the room breathed and her not-terribly-excited emotions shifted to apologetic, as if *she* had something to be sorry for, and looked up to see the seven vampires in the room stare at her as if she was Easter dinner after a full 40 day fasting.

Feeling the collective thirst get to him, the empathic vampire was overcome with it. In the time it took for the human's heart to beat once, he had crossed the room, grabber her and together they crashed on the opposite wall. Her eyes widened with fear yet the levels of thirst of the vampires increased when her fresh blood poured. The empath's mouth latched on her throat and he sucked like a newborn.

It felt like ages but was more like minutes when she was dry and he was pulled back by the rest of the vampires. He expected them to go for it and try to feed too but he was met instead of pity and hate.

"I knew we couldn't trust you"  
"I failed you my son"  
"You're an animal; you never should have been near her"  
"Sucks bro"  
"I'm sorry Jasper"  
"How could you...?"

The accusations were flying and his feeling of victory turned to shame. He had killed his brother's girlfriend, his mate's best (and only) friend, the newest addition to be in his family. They were right, he couldn't be trusted, and he was a failure.

He hung his head apologetic, ready to accept his punishment. He deserved it. He almost felt hands grabbing him when it stopped and the accented voice of his father was heard

"No Edward. Don't let him drag you down to his level"

Instead of feeling worse, something snapped in the crouched vampire. How dare they? It wasn't his hunger alone that caused the human's death to happen. It was theirs. Their hunger built on his! He felt something stirring inside him. Something dangerous, lethal. Something that was tired of being beaten to submission. He threw his head back and let out a roar that ...

... that...

Woke him up.

 **\- 1948 -**

With a roar that shook the trees, the blond vampire woke up. He looked around him disoriented and lost, expecting to see the minimalist decor of the family house in Forks, Washington. Instead he saw wilderness and a full moon high above.

If he had a heartbeat it would beat fast and his senses were on high alert. He stood up in a crouch without ever realizing it. The other two vampires in the area fell immediately on their knees, their hands falling limply on their sides. The move almost sent the female underwater but neither flinched. Instead all three remained motionless. The one standing on the faded pickup truck took deep breaths in and out.

Breath one, woods and not bad, overly scented air freshener.

Breath two, only two vampires nearby and a multitude of animals and fish, instead of six and a dead human.

Breath three, he felt comfortable instead of choking. That was weird.

Breath four, his left wrist was no longer squeezed in a cuff bracelet. That was weirder.

Breath five, he realized he felt free instead of oppressed.

Breath six, and his eyes moved from the vampires, down to himself. He expected the ugly and uncomfortable grey suit he had been instructed by Alice to wear for the blasted party. Instead he had on jeans and nothing else. Cowboy boots on his feet, cuff-less wrist and no wedding ring.

"What did you do to me? Where is Alice? The Cullens? The body?"

He asked quietly. The other two vampires stood fluidly and the female left the large lake. They looked at each other and the male took charge.

"How are you feeling, brother?"

He asked. Jasper licked his lips not really expecting the taste of the human girl to linger on, but it did.

"Elated. Ashamed. Hungry. Alone. Free. Myself. Take your pick"

The silver blond male vampire laughed a low throaty laughter and relaxed.

"I had to find a way to show you what I knew. The carnival psychic you consumed last feeding did the rest"  
"You've been out two days. You worried us"

The long haired female added, also relaxing.

"Sorry Char"

Jasper apologized jumping down from the bed of the truck when it hit him.

"You said carnival psychic? What... What year is it Peter?"

Peter and Charlotte exchanged another look. Peter's voice was measured again when he responded

"May 3rd 1948. We're in Pennsylvania at some lake. Have been for over a week now"

Quietly jasper repeated the date

"How? I met Alice a week after when we went to town for dinner and you two wanted alone time"  
"You did and you will"

Peter's voice had returned to its casual tone. Jasper rubbed the spot behind over his right eye. That was where his headaches always began. Was it even possible for vampires to get headaches? Five minutes ago, he'd say yes. Without saying a word, he got in the lake for a swim.

Charlotte moved to hide in her mate's arms and together they sat down on the sand

"That went well"

She commented. She had been against the experiment but stayed back and kept her opinion to herself. She believed in her mate's gift but she also believed that the Major was a big boy and could make his own decisions.

Peter was a lot taller and broader than her and his shrug made her move like a stuffed toy.

"I told him how bad meeting Tiny would be. You know he didn't believe me. So when we saw those rapist carnies a few nights ago... I went back to see the psychic. She was the real deal and when Jasper ate her... He lived what she saw and I knew"

He shrugged again. He didn't say if but he hoped it'd go well and that his wish to protect his brother wouldn't ruin them.

* * *

 **A/N** : So there you have it. My very first non crossover for the year just began! I'm tempted to point out that I don't own anything recognizable about it but, honestly, if I did, would it be a fanfic and not what did happen in cannon? Really?

 **A/N2** : The credit (I did say I owned nothing, right?) for the "Peter knows what will happen when/if Jasper meets Alice and goes with her and that aftermath" belongs to Ryggrad and an afternoon that we were joking about it. I hope you like it miss Ryggrad :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Bella**

The orgasmic moans coming from behind Bella were too loud and impassioned for her to ignore any longer.

"Ooohh, I just died and went to heaven"

Exclaimed a middle-aged woman as she popped another truffle into her mouth. The teenager next to her reached across her mother to grab several treats off the tray the waiter was holding.

"Stop hogging them all, mom."

Bella smiled, pleased that everyone was enjoying the truffles so much, but then her smile turned into a frown as she remembered her accountant's words.

"Your business better start picking up, and fast, or you're going to have to shut down The Bake Shoppe"

Bella slumped down in her seat with a loud sigh. Her bakery was barely bringing in enough money to stay afloat. Even though everyone who had ever tasted one of her confections or even her bread products seemed to love them, Bella still wasn't able to make ends meet permanently. Her accountant had arranged for her to meet with a company consultant on Monday, but right now Bella wasn't feeling particularly hopeful about it. As soon as anyone started talking about marketing and promotion, Bella always started daydreaming about new creations after a while, no matter how hard she tried to stay focused on business plans.

She looked around the indoor garden at the two hundred people who were munching on her truffles and her cookies with the newlyweds' initials, with looks of utter rapture on their faces and had to blink quickly to fight back a sudden onslaught of tears. How could she give up on her bakery? Making people happy was worth so much more to her than making more money than caring for her shop needed, she thought as she sniffled and opened her little beaded purse to look for a tissue.

The woman behind her licked bittersweet chocolate dust off of her fingers.

"Wait a minute, honey. I've got a tissue here in my purse for you. I always cry at weddings myself. Everything about them is so perfect and beautiful, isn't it?"

Bella forced herself to nod, without rolling her eyes, and then accepted the tissue from the woman. Ignoring the chocolate smear across it from the woman's fingers, Bella blew her nose.

She liked weddings. Really she did. Especially when she had made an assortment of various wedding cakes including one with a special (and disgusting) ingredient (ew, who likes blood in their cakes?) and had made an incredible amount of truffles and cookies on the long buffet table to go with.

She tucked the used tissue into her purse, trying hard to clear her mind. Right now she didn't want to think about truffles or cookies. She didn't want to think about weddings or caterings. And she sure as heck didn't want to think about love or even lust.

She snorted at the thought of love — didn't one need a boyfriend or even, say, a date first? — and the woman next to her scooted a little farther away. Bella felt tears well up in her eyes again. Even a middle-aged stranger thought she was weird and wanted to get away from her. She reached for the used tissue and blew again.

The first few chords of the wedding march rang out and the guests leapt to their feet. Bella noted that everyone was either still chewing and swallowing or licking chocolate off of their fingers as they waited for the last bride of the day to appear. She bit back a slightly hysterical laugh at the image that seemed to come out of the discovery channel.

At least there is one thing about me that people love, she thought as the radiant bride appeared from an arbor of white lattice and pink roses.

Too bad she couldn't barter chocolate truffles for love.

 _ **\- - - Blood and Chocolate - - -**_

 **Jasper**

Jasper stood next to the priest and tried not to sway. Planting his feet in a wide stance he clasped his hands behind his back, his old supervisor in the army would truly be proud with the pose, and focused his eyes on the woman in white coming towards him as ruthless memories assaulted him.

"What woman in her right mind would want to be with? Succumbing into hunger so easily is for newborns and you aren't one any more"

Everything blurred and Jasper had to close his eyes to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground.

The priest leaned towards him.

"This is a wedding, not a wake, son."

Jasper forced a grin even though he thought his face might crack with the strain just as Peter, Jasper's best (and only) friend since the Vampire Wars, turned and gave him a thumb's up, happiness, love and more than a hint of mischief emanated from him. Imagining what the mischief was about, the wedding night, Jasper swallowed a wave of nausea.

God, how he hated weddings. After his one pathetic attempt at holy matrimony, which had ended when his wife and their family upped his thirst with theirs during the birthday party for his brother's human girlfriend leading him to attacked and kill her, Jasper had vowed never to set foot within a mile of a wedding ever again.

Understandable really.

And now, here he was, the best man. He knew he was a sucker, but when push came to shove, he couldn't let Peter down. Missing his best friend's wedding would have been the coward's way out. Jasper was going to look his demons in the eye, support his friend on the happiest day of his life, and then get the fuck out.

Were it not for several quick swigs of B negative he wouldn't have made it this far. And Jasper knew damn well that several more shots would be necessary to help him get through the reception. It was the only way.

Charlotte was beaming as she put her hand in Peter's. Jasper felt the love flowing between them but there was nothing but emptiness inside him. An emptiness he believed would be filled by Alice, the cute and tiny vampire he had met back in 1948 and marry her. With her he had started a new life with a different diet. That had started well but ended in tears. Until it turned out to be a real life version of "it's a wonderful life", a glimpse into what his life would be like, had he met Alice and gone with her. He chose not to enter the diner where she'd be waiting and had gone living as he was.

The memory tackled him again.

"Jazzy, you know I love you but why can't you be more like us? More like Edward?"

Jasper tried to shake the shrill voice of his faithless bitch of an ex-wife out of his head to focus on the ceremony that had just begun. He knew she was right, though, and that was the worst thing of all. He couldn't focus on being vegetarian like the rest of them. Not with their hunger setting of his. But something good had come off of those 69 years. He had learned business from them and now he had his own. He hadn't needed Alice and her gift to foresee the stock market. He had his perfect memory, played the perfect stocks, earned enough to start his company and he loved what he did. Like Carlisle would say, he was bloody good at it. In doing all that, he had even found a way to not be overwhelmed by his meals.

In a daze of self-loathing ane memories, Jasper watched Peter and Charlotte exchange rings. His best friend leaned in to kiss his mate and wife, but all Jasper could see was Alice's face, screwed up in rage at him.

"You've ruined my life! Edward's life. You killed his mate. We'll have to leave now. Again. Don't ever come near me again."

In his mind's eye Jasper could still see the shock on the faces of their family. He could still see the hatred in Edward's eyes. But worst of all, he could see how everyone agreed with her choice. Only Rosalie and Emmett looked sad but neither stood for him when Carlisle told him that it'd be best if they went their different ways after covering up Bella's death and leaving Forks.

The sound of applause pulled him from his memories and he reached out his hand to shake Peter's and mechanically hugged Charlotte. He just needed to make it down the aisle to the bartender and then everything would be all right.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Bella pushed the salmon around on her plate. It was delicious, but she wasn't the least bit hungry. Her lack of appetite may have had something to do with all of the newlyweds at her table. Catering for these "Marriage weekends" as the local chapel had put it, paid fairly well but it was near torture to be single and attending one. As far as she could tell there wasn't another singleton around for miles. If she had to hear one more word about engagement rings and honeymoon trips, she was going to puke. Abruptly, she pushed her chair back and made a beeline for the bar.

A tall, broad-shouldered man stood with his back to her. Bella hadn't paid much attention to the wedding ceremonies, but she couldn't help but notice the striking good looks of the best man from the last ceremony. The one that had the weird ingredient for the cake. He had looked oddly grim throughout the ceremony (maybe he realized he was going to have to eat the cake?), but at one point when he had grinned at the groom, it was as if the sun had come out from the clouds to pour down over everyone.

Bella cursed her unfortunate weakness for tall, cute, and handsome. Her friends liked to joke that the guys she always fell for were the perfect counterpart to her smaller auburn curves. But it wasn't really all that funny. The truth was that if the man came with a harsh past and emptiness in his soul, she was moth to his flame.

Which may have had something to do with her still being single, she mused sardonically. Staying single was a decision she had made last time she got her heart trampled all over.

According to her mother, who after ten years of marriage still had stars in her eyes when she looked at her husband, if she could only find a nice, simple, happy man, everything would be perfect.

Oh yeah, except for the fact that she was going to have to close her bakery if she didn't start making a better profit. Love was nice and good to have, but it wasn't all that, nor a magical fix-it.

Bella fell even deeper into her misery as she made her way past the last of the tables. The best man ran a large hand through his hair and said something in a low voice to the bartender. The sound of his voice sent goose bumps running up her bare arms. Coming shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Handsome and Tortured, she said to the bartender,

"Give me something. Anything. Just make it strong."

She had never had more than wine before — alcohol wasn't her thing, not when she could do such amazing things with sugar and chocolate — but Bella didn't care. If there was ever a time to get drunk, it was now.

The best man, who was even more striking up close, tossed back a shot of something golden then turned to face her and promptly spat his drink out. Bella's left brow went to visit her hairline and chose seat a bit further away from him miffed. So much for chatting with another single - he wore no wedding ring, not that she looked, mind you - in the sea of newlyweds.

"She'll have a shot of tequila"

He told the bartender, all the while holding her gaze with his own and deliberately moving to sit on the stool right next to her. Seemingly pleased by her shock at his forward behavior, he quirked an eyebrow and added,

"Make it two. With lime and salt."

Bella had never seen eyes so red, just like the eyes of the couple with the weird taste in cakes. Or such a gorgeous, masculine face. She blinked and tried to tear her eyes from his, but she didn't have a chance.

"Jasper Whitlock"

He said, his voice warm and slightly thick, a small smirk curving his lips.

Bella's tongue darted out to lick her lips. She knew she was supposed to say her name, but she was having the darnedest time just remembering to breathe around this guy. His name seemed vaguely familiar, all of him did for that matter, but her brain wasn't working well enough for her to think about anything at all.

One side of his mouth quirked up higher, but his semi-grin was far from being a smile. Shame, he'd look cuter if he smiled.

"And you are?"

He asked, his tone slightly mocking, as if he was used to women losing all use of their tongues whenever he deigned to speak to them. Annoyance babbled up inside her then and that got her mouth moving.

"Bella Swan"

The bartender placed a shot glass of tequila in front of Bella and she finally pulled herself away from her trance of lust. It was long past time for her to stop acting like such an idiot. What did it matter how gorgeous this guy was? She had more important things to occupy her mind.

She blinked and tore her gaze from his. She picked up the little glass. She took a small sip of the liquid and nearly spit it out. Her annoyance turned to anger at being the butt of some stranger's joke; she turned towards Jasper, her eyes flashing.

"What is this? Are you trying to kill me?"

His laughter was so unexpected that Bella took a step back.

"I take it you've never had tequila before?"

He said, his words mixing with his laughter.

Bella shook her head, not trusting herself to say anything more to this awful, albeit incredible, specimen of a man. When he laughed his eyes lit up and she thought they sparkled like pools of fire, which was a ridiculous thought.

But before she could walk away — scratch that, run away — to her car and leave to go hide in her kitchen in her bakery, he leaned down so that she could feel his warm breath across her cheek and said,

"Won't you let me show you how?"

His softly spoken words made her shiver. Her mouth opened to say 'yes' but the words that came out were different.

"I don't think so"

Despite her words and that Bella knew she should get up and walk away, she remained seated, watching him slide the two glasses together and picked up a slice of lime.

"First, you hold the lime between your teeth, with the flesh facing me"

She shook her head, laughing when Jasper he took the opportunity to slide the small green fruit between her lips. His thumb brushed lightly over her bottom lip as he did so and she rolled her eyes.

"Now tilt your neck to the side"

He said as he brushed her curls away from her neck with icy cold, sure fingers, Bella was about to burst with laughter. She may only have had a handful of boyfriends, but she was fairly sure laughter wasn't an appropriate response to flirting.

"I'm going to sprinkle a little salt onto your skin"

He whispered, shaking out several grains of salt onto her and Bella bit hard into the lime, getting afraid for the first time.

"And then,"

He said, in so low of a voice she could barely hear him,

"It's time for the tequila."

In one smooth motion, he leaned down and sucked at the skin on her shoulder, taking the salt into his mouth. Bella lost her breath when he pulled away and downed the bitter liquid in the shot glass. Bella watched as if in slow motion when he leaned towards her, closer and closer, until they were finally eye to eye. With a tenderness that she could hardly believe someone could possess, he placed his mouth over hers, slowly tasted her lips with his tongue, tasting every curve and the corners between her upper and bottom lips, taking his time to brand her once again before he sucked the juice from the lime.

Jasper removed the lime from her mouth with his teeth. Dazed, she watched him pluck it from his mouth and put it in the empty shot glass. Loud clapping for the band playing at the reception brought Bella back to reality.

Then she bolted.

* * *

 **A/N** : Yeah... If when you hear/read Jasper Hale/Cullen you imagine a pained expression and a constipated face, think again. Jasper Whitlock is a lot more more self assured, used to playing human and being with humans, who may or may not play with his food prior to eating it and reacted just a tad too human when he got a big shock. There's more to come though!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"May the brides and grooms have true love forever!"

Jasper raised his champagne glass in a toast to Peter and Charlotte and the rest of happy couples, doing his best to act the part of the happy best man, but all he could think about was Bella. Edward's would-be-girlfriend. Alice's best friend. The girl he killed on the night of her 18th birthday. The girl that outsmarted him once in Phoenix and ran to meet a crazy vampire in hopes she'd protect her mother. A girl that, as it was, he had never laid eyes upon until now when he lost all control and had a shot off of. He'd have more had she not come to her senses and ran off.

"Have you seen Bella?"

Peter asked. He was smirking and mirth emanated from him. Charlotte butted in with a too innocent to be believable smile

"She made the truffles and the cakes. Did you try our cake Jasper?"

People around them were moaning saying good things about the buffet.

Jasper thought about punching them both. He should have known that Peter had something to do with it. He had never said why he and Charlotte wanted to get married, in Arizona of all places. He could believe that Bella had something to do with candy. though She had even showed Esme how to bake!

He had never noticed how damn sweet she was. Probably because he was never allowed any time with her back in the day. She was always guarded by Edward or hurried along by Alice. Esme was the only one who pretended not to notice him hanging out in the kitchen or out in the garden when she was there. And now he did. Especially her plump lips the soft red color complimented by the green lime, and the succulent patch of skin at the base of her neck. The same spot he had bitten into once and he had now licked. He couldn't wait to taste the rest of her.

Charlotte's voice cut through his daydream before it turned into an X-rated one.

"I wish she was still here so I could officially thank her for making the cake. She freaked a little when we said we wanted ours infused with blood, but she came through. This cake is to die for!"

Jasper rolled his eyes. Ever since Charlotte had found out that eating anything, chocolate especially, infused with blood meant she wouldn't cough it back up, she had been munching chocolate bars like they were going out of business tomorrow.

"We know darlin'"

Peter joked and leaned over for a kiss. Jasper was happy for them but he needed a break from them. He shifted from one buttock to the other in mock discomfort and looked away.

"Get a room"

He thought, but then, if it had been up to him, he would have humped Bella at the bar, so who was he to complain? When his best friend was finally done kissing his bride, he turned towards Jasper with a knowing grin.

"Any idea where Bella might be?"  
"Not a clue."

Jasper answered truthfully.

"But I'd be happy to go find her for you."  
"I bet you would."

Peter said with a wink. Jasper shook his head at the mirth Peter was letting out.

"It was high time you two met, don't you think? Human or not, she has been changing her mind all the times you two would meet naturally. That girl has a mind of her own, I had to do something, brother"

Jasper resisted the urge to smile. They'd talk more about it when there'd be fewer humans around to listen in. So he raised his glass of champagne in a toast.

"For us."

Finally free of his best man duties, Jasper headed for the door that Bella had run through. The place was full of various humans and, like in the airport, Bella's own scent was gone. He hoped that she hadn't left the reception altogether. He needed to talk to her, to apologize for things he had never done in this life.

"The kitchen"

He said to himself, when he walked into the large cooking area.

"That makes sense."  
"Did anyone see a small, very pale brunette woman run through here?"

One of the waiters nodded towards the hall behind the prep area and the stoves.

"She went back there."

Jasper nodded his thanks. Once he had walked around the corner into the hidden, back area of the kitchen, he saw two large doors, both big enough for him to step through. Opening the door to his right, he realized it was a commercial freezer, packed full of ice cream containers and huge bags of ice. Bella's scent hit him like a freight train. Strawberry fields after the rain. That's how she smelled once but tonight she wore a light perfume of roses and other flowers.

He closed the heavy freezer door and turned his gaze to the refrigerator door, a broad grin taking over his face.

 _ **\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - **_

Bella heard a noise in the hall and looked up through the thick, frosted glass on the refrigerator door.

"Shit"

She whispered. A tall man in a tux was standing just outside the door. It had to be Jasper. Why didn't she just leave instead of hiding in here? She tried to push herself back further into the shelves, hoping that her icy blue dress would help her to blend in with the crates of supplies.

Maybe if she didn't move, didn't make a sound, didn't even breathe, he would go away. And she could be left in peace with her memory of his lips on her throat and then gently pressing on her lips.

Bella had spent the past ten minutes rubbing the goose bumps on her arms and trying to convince herself that she should leave, instead of going back in the reception and kiss the living daylights of the man. The fear had subsided and incredulity had risen. She wasn't the type to either start flirting or let someone drink a shot off of her, so why had she? She had firmly decided that she was going to be perfectly happy going home and taking one very long, very cold shower and forget all about him. She was staying in a lot. That had to be it. She had to get back out there and finally let her friends drag her to a club or bar.

The doorknob turned and Bella gasped. He was coming in. What was she going to do? She stood up and backed into the wall, pressing herself up against the cold edge of the laden shelves as hard as she could.

In the dim light of the refrigerator, Jasper's warm voice wrapped around her.

"I thought I might find you in here."

Bella was both alarmed and aroused by his presence, by the way he filled up the room with his essence. She was also strangely relieved he had shown up after all.

"We're in the desert. Who doesn't want to relax in a walk-in refrigerator from time to time?"

She snarled mildly. He chuckled as he stepped inside and let the door close behind him. Less than four feet from her, which was at least four feet too close for Bella's comfort. Then she noticed his expression. Lost yet pleased. Time to grab the bull by the horns.

"Is there a specific reason you look at me like I'm a ghost? I know I'm pale and it's cold in here, but I'm not *that* pale"  
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you"

She barely heard his softly spoken words. She frowned

"Try me"

It was his turn to take a step back, shaking his head.

"This was a mistake. Have a nice life and stay safe, will you?"

He then disappeared out the door. Bella ran her hand through her hair wondering what the hell had just happened.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After a night of emptying his emergency stash of blood, Jasper finally felt sated and apologetic. He realized he had freaked Bella out the previous day and wanted to make up for it. He couldn't tell her exactly why, or she'd have him committed, but he knew he had to. Especially since he wanted to keep seeing her. Which he did. For some reason he wasn't sure he wanted to think too much about why that was.

"Focus"

He told himself as he pulled his truck with the tinted windows in the basement garage. Jasper then walked past the large business sign of his company. "Red Investments" was geared towards vampires and other supernaturals that planned ahead and wanted to get their feet on the ground for the years to come. His empathy came in very useful there too.

Peter had rolled his eyes at the venue (and the name) but didn't say anything. Instead he and Charlotte had chosen to open a club that catered to their specific needs, aptly named "Rhesus Neg". It was open to everyone but had a VIP area where vampires could get served blood either straight up, or infused in drinks.

His assistant, Alicia, looked as if she had already been hard at work for several hours. He was certain that she had been writing up invoices, balancing their accounts, keeping everything running so smoothly that all he ever had to do was keep appointments and think about the best ways to mingle with humans to set the best conditions for his clients.

The woman Charlotte had saved from certain rape ages ago, despite her unfortunate name, had been allowed into their secret and now, in her fifties, she worked for him and often treated him like he was an unruly son. Oddly, Jasper never minded too much, despite hating it when Esme had done the same. Perhaps it was the genuine affection he felt from Alicia every time she straightened his tie (how he hated wearing the monkey suits!) or tried to hide her smile behind a cool face when he had human clients and he was served his usual blood while they had coffee.

"The king has finally arrived"

She said; her mouth tight as she glanced towards the clock. Jasper was barely five minutes late.

"And not a minute too soon young man. You need to read through several things before you meet with your new client"

Jasper sat down in a chair, returning the smile as he saw the tiny strawberry shaped earrings on her ears. He thought about telling her about meeting a human at Peter's wedding the previous day. She'd disapprove of his manner and take Bella's side without ever needing to hear the particulars.

Alicia loved to disapprove of whatever it was he did. Getting her all riled up was part of the fun of working with her. Despite her unfortunate name.

"I need you to clear my calendar for the day."

He started, stopping to take a sip from his bloodspresso, before he delved into why he wanted her to find out where to find one Bella Swan. Peter had refused to tell him, saying that it was up to him to find her and get to know her because quote 'he owed her and it would be beneficial to them both' unquote..

He was already envisioning walking into her bakery and... kissing her? He shook his head. What was that about?

Cutting into his fantasy and the bewildered thoughts that interrupted it, Alicia spoke up

"No can do. You have an important consultation today."

Her voice was full of censure. Jasper wondered if she had used x-ray powers to guess his most intimate thoughts. He was firm.

"Cancel it."

Alicia shook her head.

"I can't and I won't. The woman I spoke to sounds sweeter than sweet, truly in love with her profession, and, most importantly, desperately in need of your help."

Mirth and motherly love emanated from Alicia, making Jasper frown. What was going on with the world today?

"Fine. I'll go, mother"

He grumped only to be rewarded with a large smile and a pat on the head as if he was a puppy. He grabbed the file of the client without looking at it, impatient and displeased that he wasn't going to get his way.

"Who's the client?"

Alicia surprised him with a smile.

"The Bake Shoppe"

Jasper nearly dropped the folder, his red eyes snapping up to her kind green ones. The peach painted mouth was curved in a pleased smile and pleasure left her in waves.

"Did... Did you just say Bake Shoppe? The same the catered the wedding weekend?"

Alicia nodded, with a glint in her eyes.

"That's right. Someone you know?"

Now the pleasure morphed into mirth and glee not even bothering to mask it with mock innocence. She was in on it. Peter had managed to get Alicia in the trick and pulled one over him.

"I've never seen you get so excited about helping humans before"

He said, teasing his assistant, admitting defeat.

"There are a lot of things you haven't seen"

She snapped at him as if he were a little boy who wouldn't know up from down without her help. Returning to an all-business demeanor she said,

"She's expecting you at 10 a.m. Do not be late. And don't you dare let her down."

Jasper rolled his eyes at her wink and stood up to go to his office. He sat down and opened the thick file of information while finishing his coffee. And tried not to fall back into memories of Bella being in Edward's arms but choosing to remember her as she felt against him when she had assisted him in drinking his alcohol. Wait, she was afraid then. Fear or being in the wrong arms? No, better remember her as she was when she asked for a drink.

Exasperation. That was better.

 _ **\- - - Blood and Chocolate - - -**_

Bella's alarm went off at 5 a.m. and she burrowed down under the covers, trying to ignore it. She felt like hell today, which was no wonder, considering she hadn't slept more than fifteen minutes all weekend. Her overweight ball of fur, Tiger, got up from his pillow next to hers and plopped his head right next to hers.

Feeling the weight of the cat's shaggy head hit her pillow, she emerged from beneath the lightweight duvet.

"All right, I hear you. I'm turning it off"

she said. Silence descended again and Bella was certain she heard Tiger sigh with relief.

She sat up in bed, pulling the cat up with her, and scratched Tiger's head paying special attention to his ears. Just like she knew he would, he purred like a jet engine and got so relaxed that he resumed his favorite "roadkill" position and fell immediately back to sleep. Continue to pet the orange and black striped cat after putting him back on his own pillow Bella let herself fully wake up.

For the upteenth time, she wondered who Jasper was. He felt familiar. He didn't seem to be much older than her. Maybe she knew him in school? Nah she definitely would remember him! She shook her head to clear it off the handsome blond guy. Glancing at the clock, she wondered if she could go back to sleep. Maybe if she slept long enough, it would all go away.

And then her life would return to normal.

Unfortunately, Bella knew that wasn't possible. Not only did she have potential customers to sell cookies and breads to, not many, of course, but the ones who came were loyal and she loved each and every one of them, but she had an important business meeting. Her accountant had set up an appointment for her with a consultant company to make some changes. He was going to be coming by her store at 10 a.m. this morning. She couldn't miss this meeting.

She dragged herself out of bed, straight for the shower. She turned it on full blast, praying that water could wash away some of this uncertainty that had gotten hold of her since the 'marriage weekend'.

"I'm supposed to be the nice cookie lady. Not the truffle kid who gets freaked out at the first guy that tries a few bad lines at her"

She muttered, roughly soaping up her skin, shampooed her hair and then dried off. Splashing cold water on her face, she ordered herself to snap out of it. With the breaths and sleeping mewls of Tiger, she pulled a dress out of her closet.

Blue in color, dark enough to be professional, yet well cut enough to accent her curves. If you've got it, flaunt it, like the saying goes. With a sign she pulled on her favorite jeans and a forest green tank top with a pair of tennis shoes. Filling the cat bowl, the one with the picture of Garfield printed in the bottom, with more than enough dry food, she stopped and looked at her bedroom.

"I'll come back at lunch"

She called to the cat that had abandoned his sleep, in favor of his first breakfast. He stopped stuffing his face and turned to regard her with an uninterested look, causing her to laugh.

"And you don't care as long as your bowl isn't empty"

Tiger swished his tail in farewell. She stopped at the porch to lock the front door, after blowing a kiss to the striking cat. Then she went to the garage to get her car and drove the twenty block distance to the bakery. The roads were still empty and she was parking and unlocking the back door of 'The Bake Shoppe' just as the clock read six.

Busying herself in the familiar tasks of measuring, shifting, creating, baking and, later on, stacking the display cases. At eight on the dot, she unlocked the front door and turned the sign so the word "open" was facing the street. The same street she rode her bicycle everyday ever since she was a little girl.

Taking a seat on the only table for three in the bakery, Bella took a sip of her coffee. She had spent most her life in Phoenix. She had been born in a small town near Seattle with the unfortunate name of Forks. After her parents divorce, she and her baby carrier had been moved to Phoenix where her mother earned her degree in literature and landed a job in an elementary school while her grandmother helped raise her.

When Bella was a little girl, she used to ride her bike into town, her grandmother walking next to her, straight to the bakery they preferred. She would stand at the counter, looking at the displays wanting to unravel their secrets. Her grandmother and the lady who owned the shop would laugh and point out what each candy and baked goodness had in it.

As a teenager, when Bella realized she had loved baking, she sought out a job at a bakery. This same bakery she was now in, in fact. The owner, Linda, had hired her for a few hours each afternoon and, as the time passed, she was allowed into the kitchen to bake. Her steady job allowed her to live by herself when her mother remarried and moved to Florida and by the time she had to apply for a higher education, she abandoned the plans she had for an education degree in favor of culinary school, all while she worked at the bakery.

Her dream became a reality when she was twenty-five years old. She had saved every penny from her various cooking and catering jobs over the years and Linda had been willing to sell her the bakery as it was. Linda's husband had died that year and her interest in keeping the bakery going had diminished, with Bella being the force behind its continued work. When Linda chose to close it and move back to Texas, Bella asked to buy it and renamed it from "Bakery and Cookies" to "The Bake Shoppe".

She loved how it originally was, pale buttery yellow walls with dark brown tiles and a long series of display shelves. The only change she made was replacing the bulbous ceiling lights with lights across all walls to make the space brighter and added a pair of old school saloon doors at the arch separating the kitchen area from the shop part.

The past three years had been the most rewarding time of her life. She made candies in the evening after she closed the shop and cookies and bread in the morning before opening and sold it all by day. She loved watching the glee on the children's faces as they flew in off of their bikes, strewn haphazardly on the wide sidewalk, anticipation glowing in their eyes almost immediately after school let out.

The kids in the early afternoon and mothers getting bread early in the morning was her usual clientele. And it just didn't make enough to guarantee it staying open.

Especially since a fairly popular chain store had opened at the other side of the busy street she was facing. A side road led to a large plaza and, the chain store with it's included wine bar. The rent for the bakery had doubled, then tripled in the past two years. With every year, she found it harder and harder to put something away in the bank after she had paid her bills. People were always telling her to put up a website and advertise. However she had done that but it yielded nothing. Maybe her mother had a point and opening the bakery in Phoenix wasn't a good idea. Perhaps she should have opened it in a less populated area. Maybe in one of the suburbs?

But she didn't want to move. She wanted to stay where she was and continue to do what made her happy. She loved watching the joy on her customers' faces as they ate her concoctions. She came back to the present when she saw a long time customer and went behind the counter, where she knew she'd remain till the mediocre morning rush was over.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Bella was stacking up a large display jar with vanilla and coconut biscotti, a recipe she had come up with the previous day, when her cell phone chirped. It was the reminder she had set up to change out of her 'work uniform' to the dress she had packed. With a last look to her empty bakery she slipped out to the small office she had across from the kitchen, in the back and get dressed. Then she returned to the front and sat back down behind the counter fiddling with a recipe she was creating for ice cream sandwiches. Something soft and chewy, perfect for older people too, not just children and teenagers.

She lost all track of time when she suddenly made a breakthrough. She jumped up and went back into the kitchen, stopping only to put her apron on and twist her hair up to keep it out her way. Humming to herself, she grabbed the box of day old chewy cookies she had no inclination of selling and walked in the small refrigerator to find her ice cream. She whipped it in the mixer till it was soft like fudge.

She was leaning over the assembled sandwich inspecting it from side to side, to make sure the softened ice cream wasn't dripping though the crumbed cinnamon cookies when she heard footsteps coming up the saloon doors.

One thing was absolutely certain; she thought with a thudding heartbeat, she was no longer the only person in The Bake Shoppe.

"We've got to stop meeting in backrooms like this."

Bella's heart stopped beating altogether. She would have recognized that smooth, deep voice anywhere. She froze in place, unable to get her limbs to work. Instead she closed her eyes and counted to ten before standing up and wiping her hands in her apron while smoothing down the skirt of her dress.

"Ever heard of knocking?"

She tried to rouse up some anger; otherwise she was stuck with embarrassed at her less than business-like appearance and intrigued. Her arms folded across her chest.

"What are you doing here?"

Jasper was leaning against the door, looking more gorgeous than any man had a right to in an off white shirt and slacks. He grinned widely and Bella wanted to smack the smile from his lips. And kiss him senseless, which was a strange combination considering it was less than 48 hours when she had felt scared by him.

"This is The Bake Shoppe, isn't it?"

He drawled, a hint of an accent barely audible in his affliction

"It's what it says on the awning up front"

Bella deadpanned. Jasper smiled. Apparently he found all this amusing. Screw kissing him, perhaps smacking him was a better idea.

"I'm here for our appointment."  
"For our appointment?"

She was confused and embarrassed to be caught in her cookie making so deeply that she shut off the world outside. How else could she have missed the telltale bells that hung over the door up front?

"10 a.m., Monday morning. My assistant set it up with your accountant."  
"Oh"

She said, leaning her weight into the cool stainless steel work table next to her. She cleared her throat, stuffing the ' _single-and-interested_ ' and ' _you're-hot-pal_ ' parts of her brain inside a box and triple locking it, she tried to coax her business self out of its coma.

"Oh yes, of course. I was so wrapped up in creating a soft ice cream sandwich that I forgot all about our appointment."

Her voice was as crisp as she could make it.

"It's melting"  
"Excuse me?"  
"That... thing... on the table. It's melting"

He was close to laughing, she could tell.

"Oh shit"

She breathed and leaned over to push the melting ice cream back where it was supposed to be and lifted the small tray in her hands. With a quick apology she darted into the refrigerator and plucked it gently on a self, hoping it'd harden back up soon and that the whole experiment hadn't gone up in flames. Taking advantage of being alone for a moment, she took a deeper breath, felt her pulse slowing and stood straighter to walk confidently out of the refrigerator and close firmly the door behind her.

Struggling to sound impersonal, she said,

"Please forgive me. You're with..."

Bella let her voice drop and looked up towards the ceiling as if she obviously knew the name of his company but had momentarily forgotten it. She hoped against hope that he would fall for her act.

"Red Investments"

He said smoothly, his eyes running past her flushed face to her white apron, down her legs before coming back up to the spot where her neck met her shoulder and getting stuck there.

"And of course I forgive you"

He added, never taking his eyes from that spot, the same spot that was still slightly reddened from the salt routine of the weekend, his tone getting deeper and she resisted the urge to flinch.

"How about we get out of here and get down to business?"

Too late she realized how her worlds sounded. Her eyes widened. So did his smirk. Quickly she backtracked

"I mean... You're not exactly dressed appropriately for being in the kitchen and I'm sure I should be… out.. front.. yeah"

She bit her lip. No matter how hard she tried to act professional, her voice was tentative and breathy. What the hell was wrong with her?

The next thing she knew, he had crossed the small space between them. He touched the net that was covering her hair and protected her concoctions from contaminations.

"I doubt I'd look good in one of these darlin'"

Bella shivered.

"You'll never know till you try it"

She stammered while ' _Do not hit him. Do NOT kiss him'_ signs flashed in her mind.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Against any good sense she had ever possessed, and the signs, her arms fell to her sides moved across his shoulders to entwine around his neck.

"Bella,"

The word wrapped around her like a deep fog and then his mouth was on hers. Jasper sucked at her lower lip, letting his teeth graze her skin, before moving his mouth down past her chin and then the side of her neck. She was jolted back to reality when his tongue darted to the still reddened spot and he sank his lips into the crook of her neck and sucked at it.

"Yeah, me too"

She admitted, unable to stop the confession from rolling off of her tongue.

"Miss Bella?"

A small voice from the hallway was calling out her name, and it helped her to pull back, breathing heavily and blushing,

"Miss Bella?"

Jacko, an eight–year-old whose mother owned a flower shop a few doors down, poked his fire engine red head into the kitchen. He beamed when he saw Bella.

"My mom needs a box of truffles for her store and she sent me over here to see if you could give me some before we open. I sure am glad you're here or else I'd have to ride my bike all the way down here again later."

He said in one breath. Bella grinned at his enthusiasm until she suddenly saw herself through the innocent eyes of a child and she couldn't help but feel dirty. Forcing herself to gently push away the granite of Jasper, she walked through the doorway on shaky legs. Reaching the series of hooks next to the saloon doors, she untied and slid the apron over her head, wiped her hands on one of the towels she had there for that exact reason and quickly wiped her lips wondering how badly her rose lipgloss had smeared.

Laughing, the sound obviously forced, she ruffled Jacko's hair. She kept her voice light and said,

"Oh no, buddy. I'd hate for you to have to ride your bike all the way down the three shops between your mom's store and here. Again."

Bella heard the trembling behind her teasing words and hated herself for it. She was sure that Jasper could hear it too. Why, she wondered, couldn't she be calm, cool, and collected around him? Why did she have to be so pathetically attracted to him? For that matter, she hoped he wouldn't die in her shop. His lips were frozen and she doubted the publicity would be good for either. When she and her little charge reached the counter, she pulled a large chocolate box off of the shelf and handed it to the boy.

"Why don't you pick out your favorites, honey?"

She said, knowing that her hands would be shaking so hard she'd barely be able to get the truffles into the box.

Jacko gave her a look of surprise, but quickly pulled the loose plastic glove on and got to work loading up mint and dark chocolate truffles into the box. Even as she chose a chocolate lollipop for Jacko from her stash of goodies below the cash register, Bella was far too aware of Jasper's presence behind her.

"Miss Bella, I'm done now. Here."

he said, putting a 20 dollar bill in Bella's hand. With a smile, she put the bill away in the cash register then handed the little boy his special treat.

"My favorite!"

He exclaimed as he shoved the lollipop into the pocket of his jeans.

"Thanks, Miss Bella,"

He added, getting on his tippy toes to give her a peck on the cheek before he ran out of the bakery and shot back down Main Street on his bike.

"Cute kid,"

Jasper said, walking around the front of her display counters to check out her displays. Bella jumped. She had almost forgotten that Jasper was there. And she had almost forgotten, yet again, that her bakery was in danger.

Enough is enough, she told herself firmly, her heart fluttering just because of Jasper's intense presence in her store.

"Do you always give away sweets like that?"

Jasper's tone was light, but she sensed an edge behind his words

"Of course I do."

She replied. She hated that she felt like she needed to explain herself, but she said,

"Kids love getting a little surprise."  
"And you like surprising them"

It was an observation, not a question. Bella nodded, giving away day old sweets and allowing their faithful customers to taste-test new sweets they came up with, was a practice Linda started and she was now continuing.

"Let's talk, shall we?"

The two moved to the table.

"Tell me about yourself"

Bella snickered and covered it with a sip of coffee

"Is this speed dating or a business meeting?"  
"I like to know my clients, in order to give them the best advice possible"

Bella had a feeling he was lying to her. His nose twitched just slightly.

"Okay then. What do you want to know"?

Thin lips pursed, Jasper looked down at his hands and then up at her again

"Everything"

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - _**

Jasper felt exasperation coming his way and bit a smile back.

"You're going to have to be a tad more specific"  
"Why do you like baking?"

"That one is easy. I like creating. I like chocolate and I love seeing the pleasure on my customers' faces when they eat my confections"

A smile split her face and pleasure left her in waves. Had he felt those emotions from her in 'the' past?

"Why Phoenix?"

She frowned and shrugged

"It's where I grew up and lived all my life"

That was strange. When Edward was yapping about her to Esme he had said something different

"Really? I thought Charlotte said something about you being from California"

Bella raised a brow, suspicion rising inside her.

"My grandmother lived in California and I spent summers with her. I also spent most winter breaks with my father out west. However I'm sure I never said anything about either to Mrs. Whitlock"

Jasper barely held himself in check to not flinch. So much for trying to find out why the true past was so different than the one he dreamt of, without alerting her to it. Maybe he'd have to come clean instead? All without her having him committed or, worse, running away from him screaming. It had gone well when Edward told her so.. Here goes nothing

"Well... Do you believe in more?"

Dark brown brows rose

"More what?"  
"More beings exist than simply humans?"

Her heartbeat sped slightly and a soft frown line appeared between her brows, yet her feelings remained calm. She took a sip of her coffee

"I'm not self centered enough to believe otherwise"  
"So you'd be open to listening about things seemingly unbelievable?"  
"Jasper, most people I know do not order human blood mixed in with the chocolate of their wedding cakes, nor do they deliver it themselves."

She leaned back pleased with herself as she stared him down. Jasper grinned in response, sending her a soft dose of calmness to be on the safe side.

"My brother and sister in law, Bella, are vampires"

The heartbeat stopped. The human blinked. Raised a brow. Swallowed. Blinked. The heartbeat resumed with a whoosh.

"Are you?"

That's it? She just takes it in stride?

"Yes"

"And the blood in the chocolate?"

"It makes human food go down easier and stay down"

"Oh"

Oh?

"Jasper, are you on medication I should know about? 'Cause I think it's time we increased the dosage"

Jasper groaned. He knew it was too good to be true.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Remind me again, Why are we doing this?"

Bella said as she tried to pull her mini dress down to cover more of her legs.

Jasper laughed and put the huge cooler he had been carrying onto the shelf in the back of the bar.

"Vampires love two things"

He stopped when Bella rolled her eyes. Despite him insisting they were vampires and even standing underneath bright sunlight to let his skin sparkle, Bella thought he was mentally ill. She even commented that he was addicted to body glitter and contact lenses. In the end he had convinced her to at least try and be open to his suggestion on how to save her bakery. And that was by marketing them to vampires.

That was why he had taken her to Peter's club, to use her sweets on the vampires there and see what feedback they got. It wasn't a date, naturally. Despite him putting on his best suit and insisting she should dress well. She did. She met him at her shop clad in a short and flirty, as Alice would put it, midnight blue dress with a subtle glimmer and had him carry her goodies. She was raising her eyes at him to continue now

"Blood, obviously"

He ignored her mocking tone when she repeated the last word under her breath.

"And, even more importantly, chocolate."

Bella humphed and rubbed her hands together.

"I hope this works. Clubbing isn't really my scene"

She muttered. She may not know it but she was one of the few humans that were allowed in the club. Jasper wanted to put her arms around her and stake his claim on her but he knew that given their business relationship, such obvious action was totally out of line. Even more than that, though, he wanted to suck that pouty lower lip of Bella's into his mouth.

After leaving The Bake Shoppe on Monday, after their heated and perfect kiss, Jasper felt he had to make the only decision possible under the circumstances. Back off until the bakery was back in the black and running smoothly. It was perfectly all right to kiss her before they discussed business, but once the first professional word had been spoken, and she considered him insane and glitter-obsessed, Jasper felt that not touching Bella was the right thing to do. Not, of course, that he would hesitate to rip all of her clothes off and keep her naked in his bed for a week once their business transaction had ended.

But for the time being, the last thing Jasper wanted was for Bella to think that the success of her business was in any way linked to whether or not she put out. For the past six years he had always been the consummate professional with his clients. He didn't mix business with pleasure, although, truth be told, he had never been tempted to lightly bite and lick one of his clients before. In any case, given that this was Bella, the girl he owed so much to, for, unknowingly, showing him a better life, he felt an even greater motivation to do his very best.

Not to mention the fact that he had a very strong personal interest in his gorgeous, talented, oh-so-fuckable client.

Peter had grinned all the while and gave him that patented look 'I know something you don't and you're going to thank me later', of his and let him use the club as launching pad for Bella's turn in business.

After their meeting on Monday, Jasper had spent the week holed up in his office day and night, working up a plan of money-making action for her. After looking through her books, he saw that although she was doing fairly well in sales, she was in such a high-rent area that she'd have to either move to another town or double her daily sales.

Their conversation on this matter had been short and sweet.

Jasper: "Have you thought about moving to another location?"  
Bella: "No."  
Jasper: "The rent is lower and you wouldn't have to worry about losing your shop."Bella: "I grew up here and I'm staying here. I refuse to either move with my father and have him treat me a like a princess in a glass castle; move with my mother and have her eat my entire workday; or have them both hound and annoy me to no end if I start over in a new place that, by the way, I can't afford. Isn't it your job to figure out a way to make that work?"

Jasper grinned. Just looking at Bella, hair in the shade between red and brown, reddened cheeks, and sticking to her mind like a mule along with her sensuality hidden beneath a good girl image and he could easily understand why Edward had fallen for her. Just as he was now doing. Why had he never seen her that way before? Or had he? He remembered one of the few times they had alone, right here in Phoenix, when she was on the run from James, when she had allow him to see past the doe eyed human Edward presented her as and had allowed him to be himself around her.

He couldn't wait to finish the job so that he could atone for everything. Ideally he'd date her too. Assuming she wanted him and accepted the whole vampire thing, that is.

Plans for saving The Bake Shoppe consumed him. He had already had a new web site built for her featuring her new concoctions, had arranged with his man at the mortuary to arrange a running supply of all types of blood for her and now he brought her out to see how it all flew.

It really wasn't a date.

In any normal consultation situation, Jasper would have met with her again in person to run his ideas by her, but the sad truth was that he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself around her. Also, Bella had said, "I want to focus on making candy," and so Jasper was able to justify his unorthodox behavior of making do with phone calls by telling himself that it was how she wanted things to be.

Somewhat wryly, he admitted that he might as well have met with Bella in person, considering that even though they had been apart for nearly a week he had been possessed by visions of her. In his bed. In his shower.

A couple on the other side of the bar started making out. Jasper shook the vision from his head and poured himself a drink to control his power before the dance club became an orgy. AB- straight up. That hit the spot! He hadn't even had her yet and all he could think was sex!

"I'm still not sure about doing this here. Wouldn't people rather come into the bakery?"

Feeling incredibly protective towards his luscious client, Jasper wanted to allay her fears.

"You've got a great place, Bella. It's warm and inviting and who can resist your little surprises?"

he said with a small suggestive smile and saw the responsive spark in Bella's eyes and caught himself just in time before he lost sight of business altogether. Focus, buddy. Focus.

He cleared his throat.

"But your new intended audience aren't the kind that go out during a hot Phoenix day."

Bella rolled her eyes again although her emotions were calmer

"Are you proposing I change my opening hours too? Because your logic doesn't really fly Jasper. If you people can't go out under the strong Phoenix sun, how will they even shop at my bakery?"

Actually Jasper had been about to propose just that later on. If not flip her hours completely, to hire someone to work the shop during night time.

"Let's see how tonight goes first, shall we?"

Jasper said, pleased that Bella could see where his mind was going even if she refused to believe him outright. A wave of shyness preluded her next words.

"Thanks. I never would have thought to do any of this without you. I know I'm taking it lightly and mockingly, but I do thank you."

Jasper tried to mask his delight at her thank you when she leaned up and pecked his cheek and blushed as she stepped back again. He opened the cooler and began pulling out boxes of truffles and putting them on a prep area. Bella began arranging them by blood type and candy kind. Then, together they gathered the servers to show them how each candy should be served and with which drink.

The bartender handed them each a drink and Jasper gave him a glare when he felt his less-than-decent emotions before raising his drink to Bella.

"To an eye opening evening"  
"Let's see how it goes before we start making toasts"

She said quietly, white teeth closing on her bottom lip. Jasper sighed and pulled her hand in his smiling a little when she squeezed. He was holding onto his sanity with a slippery hold.

Bella's pull was just too damn strong.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Bella looked at her watch and prayed that it would go well, and that the pot full of coffee she had downed earlier would keep her awake and alert. And in full control of her actions, which seemed to be on the fritz lately. Her mother's, unasked for, opinion was simple.

 **Renee** = You remind me of me when I met your father  
 **Bella** = You and dad lasted for two years and that was only because I was born making your marriage last one extra year.

That ended the conversation. Before hanging up Renee had made a flippant comment about using condoms and left her daughter with a laugh. Bella had sighed annoyed, but now, her mother's words circled in her head. She rubbed the spot between her brows and was about to pop a truffle in her mouth to ground herself until she remembered what they were made with. She took a sip of her margarita instead and tried not to sneak looks at the man next to her.

Being alone with Jasper was harder than she had thought it would be. And she had thought that it was going to be pretty damn hard.

He was so tall and blonde and gorgeous, her breath caught in her chest every time she looked at him. She wanted to hide in his arms and kiss him and squish him and everything else the song said. Too bad he was crazy. Vampires... Vampires weren't real.

Were they?

Anyway, crazy or not, it didn't matter what Bella wanted. Simply put, the facts were not in her favor.

Fact: He was her hired consultant. It would be morally wrong for her to engage in sexual acts with one of her employees. Under no circumstances did she want him to feel that he had to sleep with her or else she'd bad mouth him.

Fact: He wasn't the least bit interested in her anyway, so all of the high and mighty morals she was desperately trying to cling to didn't matter for much at all. She would have had to have been blind not to notice that since the day she had kissed him in her bakery's kitchen, he had made it a point to keep away from her. Even his phone calls were oh-so-brief, as if he could hardly stand to talk to her again.

Fact: Only crazy people like blood! Jasper's crazy idea of saving her shop was to give it new breath via new sweets. Actually, same sweets, new ingredients. Swap the milk or juice or water or anything and everything liquid for... blood. Then, the idea was that she'd swap her focus clients from the everyday normal people and kids to... vampires.

Jesus that sounded crazier the more she repeated it to herself.

"Bella?"

Bella spun around and hugged her best friend just a little too hard.

"Angie!"  
"Ouch.""Sorry, babe. I'm just so glad to see you. What are you doing here?"

Angela grinned

"I told you I wanted to go out. You were busy but you said you'd be here so"

Angela tossed her dark straight her over one shoulder making Bella laugh

"I'm just glad to have one familiar face in this place"

Angela raised an eyebrow, looking far older than twenty five

"It is a pretty exclusive place. Especially the VIP section"

She said, elbowing Bella in the ribs who rolled her eyes good naturally. Angela looked around at the mostly empty VIP room until her eyes fell on Jasper. She leaned in to whisper in her friend's ear her eyes wide

"Who's the hot guy? Your new boyfriend?"

Bella turned a hundred shades of pink shaking her head.

"No, Ang"

Jasper was already making the introductions, his own eyes a little wide as he looked at them.

"I'm Jasper. I've been consulting with Bella on her bakery."

He said, as he reached out his hand to shake Angela's. She smiled at him and looked at Bella.

"Nice to meet you, Jasper. I'm Angela"

She said. Bella thought she was off the hook, but then Angela added,

"I just thought you were her new boyfriend or something, 'cause you're not even close to her type"

Bella felt the blood leave her body and slide up to her face. She was going to kill Angela. Screw their pretty much life long friendship and the endless sleepovers they had during Bella's visits to her father.

Jasper's grin didn't quite meet his eyes and avoided Bella's eyes

"That's good to know, I guess"

Bella reached out to her friend and took a few steps away with her.

"Thank you for that. Now why don't you go mingle and have fun? We're supposed to do some work."

Angela must have realized she said something wrong because she looked contrite immediately.

"You're taste testing right?"

Bella nodded

"Please let me help. I promise I'll keep my mouth shut from now on"

Bella sighed and nodded

"Fine but please have some fun too. I don't want you to ruin your evening, alright?"

Angela nodded and put the stack of cards Bella handed her in the back pocket of her too tight jeans.

"Promise"  
"And no matter what you do, you do not try the sweets. Trust me, you'll hate them. I know I do."

She murmured the last part and hugged her friend before giving her a light push away. Then Bella licked her lips, set her shoulders back and returned to Jasper who was busying himself on the phone. They didn't speak again as the music got louder and the party goers descended on them. Instead the three of them began conversing with people and Bella was put on the spotlight to explain the logic of Blood and Chocolate. The new name of the bakery if all went well with the new idea.

"It's going well"

Angela sang in Bella's ears as she handed a martini with a juicy cherry filled with blood and covered in chocolate in the middle instead of the usual olive to a gorgeous redhead.

"It looks like it. Dunno what the vampire craze is all about but it sure sells"

She commented seeing almost everyone having a variation of red eyes, from stoplight bright red to a dark burgundy and feeling the same cold skin on everyone's hand as she handed a card featuring the new name of the bakery in blood red letters.

Whenever she could, she stole glances at Jasper. Her breath went as she watched him joke with the customers. He was so warm and engaging, he had everyone eating out of his hands. She had to hand it to him. The man could probably sell ice to eskimoes.

It was too bad he obviously didn't want to kiss her ever again. Because she couldn't think of anything she wanted to do more.

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - _**

Several hours later, when the first batch of sweets had finished and Bella had gone to the bathroom, Jasper whispered to Angela

"Can you hold down the fort for a little while? I'm going to get a drink"

Angela nodded, indecisive surrounding her before she grabbed Jasper's hand and moved into his personal space to speak quietly. Like Bella, she hadn't believed the whole vampire thing yet and moved close to everyone to talk to them. Jasper knew the vampires found it amusing and indulged them, plus it meant they got more sinfully sweet things like that. He had bared his teeth more than a few times when someone had been too close to either human for his liking.

Even if he wasn't Bella's type, something he knew all along but didn't like one bit, he wouldn't let her or her friend, get hurt on his watch.

"Sure thing, Jasper. By the way, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. You may not be her type but truth is, I think Bella kind of likes you."

"Really? What makes you say that?"

He whispered back, daring to hope

"Every time she looks at you she gets all dreamy eyed. I haven't seen her act like that before."

Jasper grinned and started to move back, but Angela grabbed the elbow of his white shirt.

"Vampire kink notwithstanding, you're not gonna break her heart too, are you?"

Jasper stood gobsmacked for a minute and then replied feeling dead serious.

"I don't intend to."

Angela stared him down and he was surprised by the intensity in her young eyes. Where did that come from? She used to be a wet rug back in the day

"Promise? 'Cause I really like you but I know quite a few spots to bury you in. I'll even get my dad to give you the last rites."

Bella's friend sure loved her, Jasper thought, to be giving out such stern warnings to prospective boyfriends. His face solemn, he said,

"I promise."

Angela grinned suddenly.

"Cute, smart and he likes her too. Go me"

She mused to herself and turned to greet a new customer who had just walked up to the table they were at. Jasper froze for a minute recognizing the redhead vampiress but she paid him no mind. Instead she took a pair of truffles and leaned in to speak with Angela and put an order. When she looked up and saw him, she grinned and moved back onto the dance floor and a blonde woman.

What was her name? Veronica? Victoria! Jasper looked around for the other two vampires of the trio that had almost killed Bella once in the past that wasn't, but he couldn't see them anywhere. Filing a note for himself to keep a sharper eye around, Jasper plopped a truffle in his mouth and waited till Bella returned to grab her hand.

"What's going on?"

She asked, trying to pull her hand back out of his. He only smiled and pulled her gently to him

"Where are we going?"  
"It's time for a little break, Miss Bella."  
"A break? Now? But what about Angela?"  
"She's fine. I think she's even enjoying herself. Your friend is quite the good seller"

Dangling their clasped hands he pulled her even closer

"You and I are going dancing"

Bella shook her head.

"Oh hell no. I don't fancy a midnight trip to the ER"

She motioned at the throngs of gyrating hips on the dance floor. Jasper laughed

"Too bad"

Bella smiled uncertainly, but kept her feet locked on the ground

"I don't dance."  
"I promise we won't be with them"

He said and twirled her around at a leisure human pace to show her a much more secluded dance area to the side by the couches.

"Besides, you deserve a reward for all of your hard work tonight."

Jasper hoped that Bella would let herself have a little fun. With him. He saw her shoulders relax a little and breathed out an inaudible sigh of relief. And when she shot him her pixie grin, he made a new decision—to forget all about his earlier decision about not mixing business with pleasure.

If ever there was a time for pleasure, it was now.

And by God, he was going to take it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Reaching the smaller and secluded dance floor Jasper whirled her around. Her legs wobbled beneath her at the sudden movement and she found herself holding onto Jasper just a little too tightly.

"Sorry"

She said hoping she hadn't landed on his foot by accident. What was she thinking wearing high heels? Jasper's arms tightened around her. He had one arm firmly wrapped around her waist and she could feel his breath on her forehead. His arms were heaven to her. All ice cold too. She frowned realizing that all the hands she had shaken already were also cold.

"No rush"

They swayed to the music slowly and for the first time all day Bella let down her guard. She felt calm and felt her eyes close. Three songs passed as they swayed lightly.

And that was when Jasper tightened his hold and she jumped up. He was glaring across the dance floor at a taller guy. He was bigger with a dirty looking blonde ponytail.

"Friend of yours?"

She asked lightly. She didn't know why but the guy gave her the creeps and unconsciously pressed herself closer to Jasper's unyielding body.

"Not even close. Just someone I used to know"

His voice was rough and low. Without saying another word he lifted her off the ground with one arm and walked away to one of the booths in the elevated area of the VIP lounge.

By the time he stopped, they were far enough from the main area that the sounds of people and the music had almost faded away.

"Better now"

He breathed out, relaxing.

"Mind letting me back on the ground?"

She laughed. Not letting her down, he turned and looked into her eyes.

"I don't think so"

His expression was dead serious, Bella found herself laughing.

"Hey, I don't care how strong you're mister. I'm not exactly tiny. Put me down"

Jasper pulled her into him even more and leaned his face close to hers.

"I don't wanna. All I've been able to focus on today is you and now I have you. Mine."

Bella breathed in his scent, unable to mask the raw need his words aroused.

"And here I thought I belong to myself."

She chose humor to dispel the fog-like wave of emotions around them. What was with this guy that made her act and feel this way? Jasper laughed and let her slide down to the floor.

"You and I really need to talk, don't we?"

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - _**

Unable to look away from her big brown eyes Jasper let his breath out. She was right. They really did need to talk but... How? He had already told her the big secret and she'd laughed it off! She didn't react that way when Eddie boy told her.

"Jasper? Earth to Jasper?"

He shook his head and focused back on her

"You're right darlin'. We do need to talk"

He agreed.

"But not now. Let's just dance and have fun tonight and tomorrow we'll sit down you and I and we'll put everything out in the open."

Dark brows furrowed but she nodded. Relieved Jasper sat down and pulled her with him. He rolled them over slightly, so that he was cradling her in his arms, and she sat right next to him, almost on his lap. The truth hit him like a bolt of lightning.

He was in love with her. Or lust. Or something.

He had truly believed to have been in love with Alice, and they had been fairly compatible, sexually. But they weren't mates, no matter what Alice said. Carlisle and Esme were mates. Rosalie and Emmett were mates. Peter and Charlotte were mates. He and Alice weren't. Neither were Bella and Edward. Those two were simply in love. To different degrees. Were he and Bella mates?

He had no idea. He had an inkling but he didn't know. Peter was no help! He had only told him to "follow his instincts" and had gotten on with his honeymoon!

Bella was funny and bright and just seeing her smile made him want to do or say something to make her smile again. That had always been this way. He frowned remembering back to Phoenix in the past that wasn't. Alice had left them alone and Bella was freaking out. He had calmed her down and made small talk. She had made him relax and laugh, forgetting she's a tasty human and he a vampire whose primary source of sustenance were humans.

Like now.

Bella's breathing began to slow down as her head fell on his shoulder and he rubbed her back, savoring the feeling of having found her again. He hadn't even realized he was looking for her. He felt a wave of panic and looked up to see Angela look around for them. Oh yeah, this wasn't a date. It was a business excursion.

He knew they needed to get back to it, but he didn't want to move too fast, to fall back into real life. He slowly tapped her chin. Bella sighed and blinked.

"Time to get back to the real world?"

She asked. He took her face in his hands and kissed her, long and slow and sweet with all of those feelings he spent all this time sorting.

"This isn't a one-night stand."

He said, his voice firm and tender all at the same time. Bella smiled back at him and covered his hands with her own.

"Good. Otherwise my daddy has a gun and friends who are convinced they are descendants of wolves."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Night Ang"

"Call me tomorrow. Well today. I want all the deets"

Bella gently pushed a yawning Angela back to her apartment building and watched until the balcony light was switched off. Then she smiled and walked back to Jasper's truck.

There was a nip to the night that sharpened all her senses, the stillness and quiet soothing after the steady din of voices and laughter in the club. Jasper was leaning back in the driver's seat, his eyes looking far away, lost.

He came back to himself when Bella got in the passenger's seat.

"Would you like to go somewhere else?"

"Yeah"

Bella didn't ask where they were going, discovering she didn't care.

"What are you thinking about? You look miles away."

Jasper asked.

"Years actually."

She said and smiled.

"I was thinking that we went for a drive with my mom the day I decided I didn't want to move in with my father after all. It was night time, like now"

Jasper's mouth quirked in response. He chose a turn that led them out of the city limits and up a hill away from the noise and lights of the bustling city. The radio was off and all that they could hear was the sounds of nature. They drove in calming silence until they reached the camp grounds Bella and Renee would visit every year to fly kites.

"In that case, can I interest you in a cup of coffee or hot chocolate?"

He indicated the popcorn wagon on the corner, complete with an outdoor patio, scattered with wrought iron tables and chairs.

"Hot chocolate."

"It'll probably be instant."

He warned.

"I don't mind."

While Jasper went to get her drink, Bella got out of the truck, stretched and wandered onto the landscaped patio bordered by brick flowerbeds. She sat in one of the black iron chairs facing the dancing plumes of water that shot up from the fountain grates in fluctuating rhythm. The cascading fall of water was a cool sound, a soothing sound.

He brought her hot chocolate to the table and pulled a flash from his jacket's breast pocket. They sat and drank, talking when they felt like it, falling silent when they didn't. Bella noticed that with each sip Jasper's eyes became just a smidge redder but she kept her mouth closed. When she emptied her cup, Jasper took it from her and threw it into the trash. The flash returned to his pocket.

"Want to walk a little?"

"Why not?"

This time when they set out Jasper took her hand, linking fingers in a cool, gentle grip. They strolled along the hiking paths with its trees and flowers and the path marked with an array of white flowers with the glow from the moon and the old style iron streetlamps of the camp lit the way.

From the kiosk a lone instrument began to play.

"Is that a harmonica?"

Bella asked, trying to identify the rich, wavering sound. Jasper nodded.

"First we woke the guy up and he's working late tonight."

Bella frowned, haunted by the familiar tune he played.

"What's that song? I can't think of the name of it."

"'Stardust.'"

Jasper slowed to a stop and angled toward her when she did the same.

"Would you like to dance?"

Startled, she wasn't sure she understood what he meant.

"Here?"

He nodded.

"Here. Now. With me. In my arms."

There was something dreamlike and slow about the way he drew her against him, his gaze holding hers, his hand and arm folding over hers and carrying it to his chest. They danced close, their clothes brushing, the rough denim of his jeans catching at the silk of her dress with each shifting step. Her cheek was centimeters from his jaw, her nerve ends tingling with awareness of him.

"Do you do this a lot? Randomly deciding to dance no matter where and when?"

Jasper's laughter rumbled from deep within his chest

"No. I don't normally dance. Unless of course you mean line dancing"

His brows shot comically up making her eyes widen.

"Don't you dare"

She laughed when he shook his head and rested it against hers.

"I'll wait for proper floor and you barefoot"

He chuckled. Bella shook her head hoping he was joking. She rubbed her cheek against his smooth shaven jaw, inhaling the scent of him with each breath. She closed her eyes for an instant, and then smiled.

"Didn't you say something about talkink earlier?"

"Shush"

His lips lightly grazed along her eyebrow, his breath warm against her skin.

"I want to court you, Bella. I want to do this right. I've never been much for candlelight dinners, roses, and soft music—

"That isn't your style."

She drew her head back to look at him.

"You're more of a mountains and moonlight man."

"Do you mind?"

She gave a faint shake of her head.

"I think I'll like it."

He said her name and took her lips in a kiss that was both tender and full of longing. She answered it smiling. Jasper pulled away and pressed a hard kiss against her forehead, then rocked his mouth to the side.

"I also need to come clean"

She tried to smile, to say something light, but the words were locked in her throat. In the new stillness, she was conscious of a dozen things at once—the hauntingly sweet refrain of the harmonica, the distant, whispering fall of water, and the shimmer of the sun slowly overpowering the moon on the mountain.

"Jasper"

Again she tilted her head to look at him, but when she saw his eyes on her, gazing at her as if she was the only woman he'd ever seen—or ever wanted to see—she was robbed of words again. Something like pain flickered across his face, then he dragged her close to him again and began swaying to the music, maintaining a pretense of dancing.

"Just wait till sunrise. Please"

Sunrise wasn't far away. Only thirty minutes later Bella raised her face to the first rays and Jasper groaned.

"Sit down"

He walked them back to the campsite and gently pushed her to sit back down on the same chair. Then he removed his jacket and shirt.

"I'm sorry"

He said quietly moments before the sun hit him.

"No need to on my account"

Bella muttered her eyes taking in the sight. Then she realized Jasper had opened one eye in question.

"Right. Sorry. Mind out of the gutter now."

She coughed and licked her lips. Jasper smirked. And then the sun shone.

"Holy whakamole"

She breathed. She had seen the rest of the... people at the club sparkling under the strobe lights but... This was different. Jasper was sparkling and it wasn't as laughable as it seemed before. He looked formidable despite the glittering that would normally send her to giggling fit. He was also covered in moon half shaped scars and that was scary. He was clenched as if he was expecting a blow and flinched away from her touch.

"Sorry. May I?"

She asked pulling back a little until Jasper nodded.

"Yeah. Bad past experiences"

Bella frowned a little but then she put her thumb in her mouth, licked it and rubbed away at his shoulder. This time Jasper did open his eyes to stare.

"What are you doing?"

"I had to make sure."

She shrugged one shoulder giving up. The glitter and the scars really were imbedded in. Looking closer the scars were eerily similar to bite marks. Some even had teeth impressions. She looked up to bright red eyes realizing she couldn't deny it.

"Shit. You are a vampire"

"Afraid so darling"

Bella gulped and then exhaled audibly. She noticed Jasper still hadn't moved and was as still as a statue. A glittering one.

"Okay. So... Since when do vampires sparkle? I always thought creatures of the night, and no I don't mean hookers, are supposed to be fearsome. Do you win over your enemies with laughter? You know, they start laughing and keel over?"

He glared.

"Okay, that came out wrong"

She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and tried to reword her thoughts.

"I meant that... You know, glittering isn't exactly scary. Maybe I'm spoiled by too many discos."

Then it came to her

"Are you guys the inspiration behind disco balls?"

His mouth twitched as if he was trying to hide a smile.

"Not that I know off. Emmett certainly was a feature in most discos though"

"Who is Emmett?"

Jasper's smile was sad

"Someone I used to know"

"Will you tell me about your life? When were you born? How did... this happen? How do you walk around under the sun without...?"

She made a 'poof' emplosion mimic with her hands. Jasper laughed relieved.

"Have dinner with me tomorrow night, Bella, and I will"

"Don't you mean tonight?"

She bit her lip. With a grin he nodded.

"Okay. I enjoyed tonight"

"So did I."

He reached for her hand, fitting palms and fingers together before linking them.

"Maybe I'd better take you back to your bed before I ask you to come to mine…"

"Maybe you'd better."

She agreed.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 **A/N:** I made a typo with Jasper's dates and fixed it. Thanks to Child of Music and Dreams for pointing it out :) (sorry if you guys thought it was an update, just me being crappy with numbers.:()

Much to Bella's surprise, Jasper's tale wasn't entirely outlandish...

...For a vampire story anyway.

They had just finished their dinner and were sitting out on her porch, each cradling a drink. He had claimed he needed liquid courage when the topic of the conversation had turned to his past.

"Before I tell you my story, you must understand that there are places in our world, Bella, where the life span of the never-aging is measured in weeks, and not centuries."

He had been born human in 1834 in Texas, had a normal bringing up and went to join the confederate army when he was almost seventeen lying about his age to get in. He rose through the ranks fast, too fast, and the troubles started when he was turned into a vampire in 1863 during the Vampire Wars.

"What are the Vampire Wars?"

She asked filling the silence.

"It was the secret side to the Civil war. A bunch of nomadic vampires used the pretense of the Civil War to go to battle over, well, everything, including how little one side cared about human exposition and how much the other did"  
"Let me guess, having humans know about vampires is a bad thing?"

He chuckled darkly.

"Very _very_ bad"  
"But you want me to cater cookies to them..."

A smirk curled her lips and made Jasper shake his head amused. Happy she got a smile out of him Bella went back to the point.

"And you were a part of that?"  
"Unfortunately"

Jasper pursed his lips and his red eyes focused on her glass of wine as he spoke.

"I was changed because of I was the youngest Major in the confederate army and because I've always drawn people to me. Apparently I was very charismatic as a human, which Carlisle believed it was my gift showing."  
"Who's Carlisle?"

A corner of Jasper's lips tweaked

"Later. Anyway, when I was part of Maria's army, part of my job was lead her newborns in battle but to also dispose of them once their newborn strength went away. That's where I met Peter. He was different than the other newborns; he was oddly civilized in the carnage of our existence. He was my first friend in this life"  
"Maria wasn't friendly?"

Jasper snorted

"Maria was horny. She believed sex was the way to keep me to herself and away from her companions. She relied on my gift a lot and... I didn't know another way of life yet. Peter showed me one first. And Alice later on."

He raised a hand before she could speak again

"Before you ask who Alice is, let me finish this part"

Bella frowned but nodded and took a sip of her wine. Jasper did the same after adding some blood from his flask to his own glass of wine making the red darker and killing all of the fruity taste.

"Peter proved to be worth keeping around. He has a gift. He knows shit as he puts it. So Maria decided to keep him past his newborn phase and he would often assist me in the disposing. I was about to dispose of a newborn Charlotte when he erupted in fear and fury. He tackled me, called for her to run away and he bolted after her."  
"They're the same Peter and Charlotte I've met?"  
"Yeah. I could have stopped them but I didn't."  
"Why not?"  
"Their feelings... I never felt love like theirs before"

He looked down. Bella smirked. If he was human he'd be blushing harder than she could. She decided to take pity on him.

"What happened then?"  
"I didn't realize how much he was grounding me and I became depressed surrounded in the emotions of the people and vampires I killed. Maria must have noticed because instead of horny she became fearful and malicious of me. I knew she was planning on getting rid of me, so I was looking for ways to do her in before she could do me."  
"That bitch."

Bella exclaimed taken in by the story.

"And then... Peter came back. He and Charlotte had been living peacefully in the North and had met others. He told me that fighting wasn't as synonymous of vampire as I had believed."  
"And so you went with him."

Jasper nodded.

"It was amazing, being free but it came with a price. Humans feel things deeper than vampires do."

Bella raised a brow

"Normally. Humans may be fickle and the ones Peter and Charlotte always go for tend to be the scum of the earth, but they are devastated when they die and it began gnawing on me. I hated my gift then. I tried feeding less often but since I had been brought up as a bloodthirsty monster, the thirst was impossible to control."

His mouth twisted in a snarl

"And then... Then Peter told me of a bunch of raping carnies. I agreed to help dispose of them, and then go my own way. And I did. And then it happened"

He snorted

"What happened?"

Bella was leaning in, chin in her hand.

"I ate the fortune teller and somehow consuming her blood put me to sleep. When I slept I dreamt, no I lived, what would happen if I did indeed leave Peter and Charlotte. I would meet Alice"

This time Bella kept her mouth shut waiting for him to get on with it, not all that surprised to feel a twinge in her gut at the mention of the name.

"It was spring of 1948. Alice was unlike the vampires I had met before."

He took a breath, his face set in the perfect poker expression, void of all emotions.

"I was in Philadelphia. Peter and Charlotte were rearranging the trees in a local forest and I had to get away from them. There was a storm, and I was out during the day, something I was not completely comfortable with yet. I knew standing in the rain would attract attention, so I ducked into a little half-empty diner. My eyes were dark enough that no one would notice them, though this meant I was thirsty, and that worried me a little. She was there — expecting me, naturally."

He chuckled once with no mirth. Bella's frown deepened.

"She hopped down from the high stool at the counter as soon as I walked in and came directly toward me. You know, it shocked me. I was not sure if she meant to attack. That's the only interpretation of her behavior my past had to offer. But she was smiling. I didn't know then that what would be a bad thing. And the emotions that were emanating from her were like nothing I'd ever felt before"

Bella bit down on her tongue hard trying to smother the intense jealousy she suddenly felt. Jasper went on seemingly oblivious.

"'You've kept me waiting a long time,' she said." And I ducked my head, like a good Southern gentleman, and apologized. She held out her hand and I took it without stopping to make sense of what I was doing. For the first time in almost a century, I felt hope."

It was only the grim line of his mouth that indicated he thought different now. Good, thought Bella and took another sip of her wine.

"Alice berated me for taking too long. Apparently I was late for an appointment I didn't even know we had. Alice has visions."  
"Visions?"

Jasper rolled his eyes.

"Alice told me what she'd seen of Carlisle and his family. I could hardly believe that such an existence was possible. But Alice made me optimistic. So we went to find them."  
"Such an existence?"

Bella questioned.

"They're vegetarians"

Jasper said with a straight face but Bella let a chuckle out

"As in, they suck the moisture out of trees? 'Cause that's just weird"  
"They drink animal blood, instead of human"

Bella's only response was to hug Tiger closer to her body. The cat had wandered outside when they did and had been laying on the bench between them, purring at Jasper's petting.

"The Cullens lead a family instead of a coven and two of the 'sons' were out hunting when we showed up. They didn't even blink when Alice called them all by their names, announced her gift, well, our gifts, and accepted their invitation to stay in one breath, before they even made it"  
"She sounds delightful"

Bella deadpanned making sure to not let any feelings cloud the word.

"She was. At first. She had already converted to vegetarianism since she had seen the hows and whys but my try wasn't as successful. I was used to eating, well, good despite the negative feelings and animal blood is... Disgusting to put it mildly"  
"Good"

Bella said under her breath, already trying not to picture someone having Tiger for a meal.

"It didn't go well. I had to feed more than the rest and every time one of the others felt too hungry, it hit me and made me hungrier"  
"That doesn't sound pleasant."

Bella said softly.

"It wasn't, darlin'. A lot of accidents happened despite all the precautions taken by everyone. So when things got a little too tough, we moved. The last time we did it was because Emmett and I were on a hunt, he saw a human woman and lost it. His hunger fueled mine and we ate her. We moved we went to a small town in the Olympic Peninsula."

Bella's left brow slowly went to meet her hairline.

"Why do I have the feeling I know exactly which town you mean?"

Jasper snorted.

"You do. It was Forks. We enrolled in high school and fell to the routine of attending it for the umpteenth time. Edward fell in love. With a human. She was silent to his gift and -"  
"His gift?"  
"Edward can read minds. And her mind was silent to him."  
"Doesn't sound like to love to me."  
"Me neither."

Jasper's eyes bore into hers, making it abundantly clear who was the girl that this Edward guy fell for. Bella sidestepped it not wanting to find out more about a relationship she never had.

"Did you make friends with her?"  
"I killed her"

Jasper deadpanned. Bella choked on her wine and spat it out. Tiger shrieked and darted inside the house.

"Mind explaining it that one?"

It was Jasper's turn to sip from his blood

"Well... She was at the Cullen house for a party."  
"I don't do parties!"  
"Neither did she. Alice had thrown you... her... a birthday bash but it wasn't as well planned as it should have been. We were all hungry and she had a paper cut when opening a gift"  
"Oh oh"  
"She bled in a room full of hungry vampires. She smelled too good to Edward already and... It got to everyone and the collective thirst got to me and..."

Bella gulped.

"And I woke up in the past, vowing to do different"

They stayed quiet for a while, each taking the story in.

"Why?"  
"Why what?"  
"Why change at all? You were happy, weren't you? What was so special about this one human? I mean you don't feed on animals any more so you've had a lot more humans...?"  
"It wasn't just the human, you're right. It was the reactions. Until then, when any of them had a slip, as it was called, the easy way to explain it was to blame the empath. That time wasn't different but it was the one that broke the camel's back."

Bella regarded the vampire over the rim of her now empty glass.

"And the first reaction you had when you saw me again, fully alive and completely unaware of vampires was to put your mouth and teeth on my neck?"

Jasper's guffaw could be heard for miles and miles.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

After all the "life that wasn't" talk had ended, and with it their drinks, Jasper had insisted that they talk about their relationship. Given their previous topic of discussion that one was gonna be a trip.

"I want to date you,"

He said, and she said,

"Me too."  
"I know I'm working for you,"

He said, and she said,

"And I've hired you."  
"I want to be your lover as well as your business associate,"

He said, and she said in a horrible imitation of a Southern accent,

"Thank the Lord."

They had both laughed and suddenly the air was clear and full of endless possibilities.

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - -_**

In the next few weeks things slowly changed. The new vampire theme had caused her bakery to grow and the renaming paperwork had been done extra fast along with the paperwork on the blood orders. Jasper said he knew a guy and his guy delivered. The delivery happened early enough by a white van inconspicuous enough to not make her neighbors interested in her supplies but it did up her sales from the moment the sun went down. In fact business went so well, she had had to hire an employee to keep the bakery open 24 hours. Angela was all too pleased to be 'it' since the contact with vampires fed her freelance weekly column at an online magazine.

One night after a romantic dinner at her house where they had done more hand-holding and kissing than eating, Bella said,

"How did you know that you were so darn good at business? With your gift and military past I'd assume you'd have a business oriented to that."

She asked.

Jasper kissed her on her neck, right below her ear; in the place she had come to have a semi permanent hickie.

"That's exactly it. I've seen too much war and carnage."

He said, trying to coax her into another incredible roll between the sheets. However Bella had had enough of his putting her off. The previous night after making love in the bathtub, she had finally realized that whenever she asked him questions about his company, he deftly changed the subject.

Bella scooted away from Jasper on the couch, hating how empty she felt without his touch, but knowing they needed to have this conversation more than they needed to have sex.

"Why do you keep pushing me away?"

Jasper looked at the empty place on the couch where Bella had been just seconds before and then up at Bella, now several feet away from him. His voice gruff, he said,

"What are you talking about?"

Bella sighed.

"Every time I bring up your business, you change the subject. For the past two weeks all we've talked about is my bakery and the past that wasn't and why you didn't want to try and make it work with this Alice now that you're in better use of your faculties."

Her voice softened.

"I don't care about that. I want to find out more about you, Jasper, in this timeline."

When she felt Jasper tense, Bella scooted back into the circle of his arms and planted several kisses on his forearms and hands, pulling his strong arms around her.

Jasper's muscles relaxed slightly and he spoke into her hair

"Because I keep expecting Edward to show up and you to run to him"

Her brows shot up

"Edward? That's the one with the need to surgically remove the rod from up his butt, not the one with the need to play with bears before he eats them, right?"

Jasper snorted at the mental images but nodded

"I have no intention of leaving you, buddy. Besides if I were, then the constant talk of how puuuuuurrrrrrfect my teenage years with him would have been, despite how unhealthy it all sounds, would do the trick".

Jasper, who was clearly surprised by her teasing words, laughed.

"Okay okay, I get it. You know what? Peter and Charlotte are coming back tomorrow, why don't we meet them and you can grill him to your heart's content"

He tickled her stomach playfully and the fuzzy feeling throughout Bella's body intensified. Life was good, if weird and crazy.

"Feel free to invite them over. If either tries to eat me, I'll have Tiger attack them"

Jasper turned to look at the cat that was lounging on the coffee table and was busy licking her ass, one leg raised in a yoga stance.

"He'll be mortified to do anything"

He deadpanned.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N** : I must have sat under the sun for too long because I thought I updated yesterday morning and... apparently I didn't -_-. I uploaded this chapter, edited it and... forgot to actually post it. Oh well, it's here now, I'm sorry everyone.

* * *

Chapter 14

The next day, moments after the sun hit the opposite side of the street than Bella's windows, a tall vampire walked into the bakery and stood near the doors away from the human customers.

Bella was down on the ground with her back to the front door, helping a couple of little girls pick out a gift for their mother's birthday while their father watched with pride.

"Mommies love these boxes of truffles."

The human owner said to the girls as she showed them a heart shaped box with a thick velvet ribbon on top. The two girls solemnly nodded their agreement and handed her a five dollar bill. The vampire smiled. It was true. While she never received such a gift before, she would hardly know what to do with it!, she would definitely have loved the gesture.

She watched the proprietress, who was reeking of a vampire scent, treating the children as if they were forty-year-old women buying thousands of dollars of merchandise instead of little kids, and took their money to walk around to the register.

When Bella looked up and saw the vampire standing awkwardly by the door, her smile faltered for a moment as the dark eyes moved on the kids, before a less welcoming smile replaced it.

"Be with you in a minute"

The tone was friendly but the vampiress heard the unspoken plea to let the humans walk away. In response she smiled, nodded and moved to stand near one of the displays away from the doors, indicating the humans had a clear way out.

The human gave her a nod with a tremulous smile and finished wrapping the box with trembling fingers. She handed the girls a lollipop each and then followed them with her eyes as they took their father's hands and skipped out the door. Then she closed her eyes and let out a breath.

"The vampire hours begin from twilight to breaking dawn"

She said with her eyes still closed. The vampire raised her hands in an apology.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. We're visiting and I saw your store last night. It must be strange to combine human and our needs."

She noted with a friendly smile that did nothing to fully calm the human if her erratic heart was any indicator.

"It's certainly a new endeavor for me. What can I help you with?"  
"I wanted to order a large number of candies but, um, do you cater to vegetarian vampires?"

The human blinked.

"Vegetarian? I was told that means animal blood, correct?"

The vampiress nodded.

"I will be honest, I'm unsure whether my supplier has animal blood but I shall ask. If he can get it to me, I can have your order within the week depending on size."

"Oh don't worry about that. I can have one of my sons drop some off tonight. Are you here all hours? How much will you need for one hundred and fifty candies? Do you have a menu for that matter?"

Bella laughed at the vampire's eagerness.

"The bakery is open all hours; an associate is here when I'm not. I do have a menu and, depending on what you order exactly, I will need from five to seven liters of blood for that amount of candies"

She reached for a leaflet under the counter to hand the vampire along with a notepad.

"Why don't you give me your contact information and I'll give you a call tonight?"

The woman took it from Bella's extended arm and scribbled down a name and a phone number in perfect calligraphy.

"I'll talk to you tonight Mrs. Masen."

Peter watched the caramel haired woman get in a car and drive off before he entered the bakery.

"Hello"

Bella's smile was wide when she saw him.

"Hey there. Jasper didn't tell me you were coming back today."  
"He didn't know."

Peter laughed before taking the younger woman in. Jasper had given him the cliff notes version of Bella being told about vampires. He was pleased she had gotten over her initial resistance to the idea.

"Who was that?"

He asked, although he was fairly certain he knew.

"A vegetarian vampire. Saw the sign and wanted to find out if I make candies for them too. I told her I'd let her know."

She began looking for the morgue guy's number when she abruptly stopped and turned back to face Peter who was standing still waiting for her to put two and two together.

"Jasper said that vegetarian vampires are very few and far between. Should I be concerned that one walked into my shop?"

Peter's chuckle was low

"They are. Animal blood is disgusting, there has to be something wrong with them to want it."

"And for my second question?"

He signed.

"Now that is a damn good question. You're right, unless their coven has changed in the last hundred years then she is one of them. Whether you want to bake for her however is up to you."

With the ball in her court, so to speak, Bella pursed her lips and made the call. As she had predicted, Jasper's guy had no animal blood and sounded downright sick of the idea.

What now? She'd either refuse the order or...

"I have a suggestion if I may."

"Go ahead."

Bella said making a motion with her hand.

"A friend of mine is in town tonight. Why don't I ask him to hang out here while your friend is on shift?"

"You think she'll need protection?"

Bella was instantly alert.

"I think it's always good to have a big and strong friend around when dealing with someone bigger and stronger than you"

At Bella's nod, Peter whipped out his phone to call Garrett.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Bella was watching Angela pace up and down the bakery. She had stopped tying and untying and tying again the apron around her waist and was now fiddling with her hair. Up and down the dark tresses they went every six steps.

"You're making me dizzy. Will you please sit down?"

Angela threw her a dark look but stopped fiddling with her hair and leaned against the recently stocked display.

"Why do I need a bodyguard? I thought I'd been doing a good job here."

Bella hastened to respond correctly reading her friend's tone.

"You don't. I mean, you do. Oh you know what I mean. You've been handling this night shift thing for a while and nothing has happened but, Peter was all freaked out earlier and hinting at things and this Masen woman was here wanting vegetarian candy and she gave me the creeps too and... I don't know. It seemed like a good idea to have someone here when one of her kids drops off the animal blood. Just in case he's not here for the chocolate."  
"Vampires have kids?"

Angela asked incredulously. Bella shrugged shaking her head. She had come to shrug the incredulity off.

"I don't get it either. Anyway, he'll be here in a while and it's just for one night. Just ignore him if he makes you feel awkward. Do you want me to stay? I'll stay."

Angela rubbed her forehead and popped a cookie, from the display oriented to humans, in her mouth. Just then the bells above the door chimed. Bella hid a smile behind her hair at Angela's glower.

"That must be the boys"

 _ **\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - -**_

Jasper approached them and had to bite back a smile at the feelings that surrounded him. Angela was annoyed. Bella was filled with mirth. Exasperation followed him in and he gave Bella a big smile at the same time that she came around the counter.

He gave her a soft kiss breathing in her unique scent and, taking her hand, he turner her to face Garrett. She surprised him by talking first.

"You must be Garrett. Bella Swan"

She extended one hand. Garrett raised one sandy blond brow and taking her hand in his, he placed a kiss on it while giving her a crooked smile.

"Easy with the charm."

Jasper said smiling but the steel undertone in his voice wasn't lost on anyone. Bella slipped her hand out of Garrett's grasp and turned to look at Angela giving her a 'be nice' look before introducing her.

"This is Angela, my best friend."

Angela plastered a smile to her face that didn't reach her eyes while the vampire's eyes hardened in response.

"Peter said you expect trouble, Bella"

Bella shook her head noncommittally.

"I don't know. Like I told Angela earlier it's more like a gut feeling. Someone will drop off a few packs of animal blood and that's all. But Peter said it'd be a good idea for someone to be here so.."

She finished with a shrug. Jasper stood straighter.

"Animal blood?"

It was Angela's turn to nod.

"Yeah, Bella got an order for a candy mix for vegetarian vampires and the lady said her 'son' would drop the blood off tonight."

Jasper felt himself stiffen at the news. All Peter had told him was that he had a feeling that Bella's bakery would need some vamp muscle for the night and that he had given Garrett a call. For a minute he wondered just how it would go if he and Garrett stayed instead and sent the girls home. Then he saw the determined expressions on Bella and Angela's faces and dropped that train of thoughts.

"Okay then, call us if anything happens."

The look he gave Garrett was long and hard, conveying without words that he was to call him anyway. Garrett's nod was too fast for the humans to catch and after they bid everyone goodbye he and Bella stepped out to the night air. It was a few steps later that Bella turned to him

"They're going to do it on my kitchen counters, aren't they?"

 _ **\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - -**_

Bella had been right to an extent. Angela and Garrett stayed out of each others way while Angela tended to customers and Jasper sat on a tall stool nursing a tall glass of blood. It wasn't until Angela had to take a big pan of blood filled cookies out of the oven that Garrett spoke to her.

"Let me. We don't want to treat burns now, do we?"

Angela threw him a look that would make most of her old classmates cower with fear. Garrett didn't even look phased and grabbed the pan with both hands to let it rest on the counter and then watched her as she messed around with things and then began squeezing colorful lines over the cookies. If there was a design besides "kid got happy with the crayons" Garrett didn't see it.

"You don't need to be back here with me."

Angela called changing colors from bright green to sea blue.

"But the view is so much better in here than out there."

She heard from behind her and gave him a dirty look over her shoulder. Adding more lines she asked

"How much did you have to piss someone off before they killed you?"

If she had expected a wince or something of the sort, she didn't get it. Instead the dirty blond vampire gave her a cocky grin.

"Actually by the time my maker got to me, he was too full of my fellow troopers to drain me. So he just whacked me over the head thinking I'd die of it."

Angela finished with the third and last color, a hot pink this time, and turned around to look at the vampire.

"You were in the army?"

Garrett nodded.

"The Great American War. I was prepared to die there. Being changed was not part of the plan but..."

He shrugged. Angela kept looking at him, her reporter's mind mentally recording the entire conversation.

"You don't sound too upset by it."

She said crossing her arms over her stomach. The dirty blond vampire narrowed his eyes but then he shrugged.

"I've had enough time to come to terms with it."  
"Tell me about it?"

Angela proposed without looking at him. Instead she took one long tray with cookies and led the way to the bakery to stock the rest of the shelves. Garrett admired the way the jeans stuck on her skin for a while before he took the second tray to follow her out. He mimicked her actions of making towers with the cookies and began speaking.

"I'm a curious child. Being something new was interesting and I knew I had lost all my previous life when I tried to go back to the camp and nearly freaked others out. They had seen me dead you see. So I got along and became a good nomad. Later on I met Peter and Charlotte when they ran away and taught them everything I knew."

"Is that how you know Jasper too?"

Garrett nodded.

"You know there is something I don't understand about this whole vampire thing. If you guys are nomads, in the way I understand it at least, then you have no permanent addresses, phones etc, so how do you stay in contact?"

Garrett chuckled and popped a dark chocolate B+ cookie in his mouth.

"There are bases in most big states and cities. We tend to let the local base chief know we're in his area. That's how Peter found me this morning"

Angela nodded. It made sense to her.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Angela and Garrett were by a table, leaning over it, talking quietly. Angela had a tall glass of iced coffee in front of her and was absently playing with the lilac straw. Garrett was observing her while munching his way through a number of vampire cookies. They were lost in each other when the jingle above the doors was heard.

"Ahem,"

A voice said from behind Garrett's back. He blinked breaking eye contact with Angela and straightened while she blushed at getting caught, coughed and jumped up from her stool.

A tall, overly muscular with a short mop of dark hair vampire was standing at the entrance, grinning like a loon.

"I've got the blood. Who do I give it to?"

Garrett rolled his eyes at the enthusiastic attitude. At the sight of the vampire's bright golden eyes, he wondered if the rumors about animal blood causing vampires to go crazy held some merit. Angela however had blanched.

"Emmett Cullen?"

She breathed. The vampire at the door was one she knew, though she had believed him to be human. He had attended the same high school as she had, back in her home town. His family and siblings kept to themselves despite their prominent place in the rumor mill. It wasn't strange how he still looked the same while she had grown up, but it was intriguing.

"I know you"

Emmett exclaimed in the same tone. It made Garrett move a little closer to Angela and block her from Emmett's immediate path.

"We went to the same high school. I was a year below you"  
"Which time?"

The teenage vampire snorted. At the honest question, Angela frowned. They went to high school more than once? That would drive anyone crazy! She shook her head. It really didn't matter now. Garrett filled the silence.

"I'll take the blood."

Emmett dropped the cooler on the counter and his eyes grew large at the tricolored cookies.

"You make these?"  
"Uh, no. My best friend does. I just man the store sometimes."  
"Shame. These look really good."  
"They are. If you like human blood."

Garrett trailed. It was probably mean to dangle a human blood cookie in front of an animal drinker but it was too much fun not to. The muscular dark haired vampire threw him a glare but then he licked his lips.

"Give me one."  
"They're made with human blood."

Angela repeated but Emmett didn't seem to mind.

"One cookie won't send me to a killing spree."  
"Says every diet breaker."

Angela added in a low voice but opened the display, took one brightly colored cookie, put it in a small paper plate adorned with the logo of the bakery and placed it on one of the tables.

"Want one?"

She asked Garrett and when he nodded, she gave one to him as well and served herself a yellow, red and white one made with normal ingredients. The three sat in silence as they ate. Garrett was content to observe the animal drinker not even flinch at the human taste of the cookie. Angela kept staring at Emmett remembering all the times she saw him at school and felt inadequate to his girlfriend. She also had the same too pale skin and inhuman eyes that she now knew to be vampire characteristics. How many had she met in her short life and never knew it?

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - _**

The next day, right after the morning rush was over, Bella was in the kitchen, elbows deep in dough while the blood was simmering on the stove to mix up with the dark chocolate. Angela was on the other side of the counter replacing the blood in her veins with strong coffee, regaling her with stories of the previous night.

"So not only the night went well and the animal drinker was as harmless as a declawed kitten, but he also let you max his credit card by eating the entire stock of human blood pastries?"

Angela nodded refilling her coffee cup

"Guess we won't need to ask Garrett to come back when the order will be ready."

Bella said lightly kneeling to find the blood drop cookie cutter with the minus symbol for Peter's club's signature treat. She smirked when Angela didn't immediately respond and when she did, the answer was reserved.

"If you think that's a good idea."  
"I thought you didn't agree with him being here last night."  
"I don't. It was nice though to have someone here. Someone good looking, you know, lobby art and all."

Bella snorted.

"If you thought he was good just as lobby art, you need sleep. The man is gorgeous. How was it with you two last night? You never told me."

It was true. Angela had been unusually tight lipped about the experience when jasper drove her to work that morning. Garrett had been reading the morning paper, ignoring her as she was cleaning out the crumbs from the vampire cookies. When Garrett saw them, he commented on the store windows being UV protecting and thus making his skin not sparkle, thanked her for having him over and refused to be paid for it. Frowning jasper assured her he'd take care of it and the vampires left the humans alone.

"Well..."  
"Yeeeeees?"

Angela was fumbling with her straw, a nervous habit of hers.

"He's different from Ben."  
"He should be. He's lived one hell of a lot longer."

Bella said lightly. It wasn't that she hadn't liked Ben, he was an okay guy, but she hadn't liked how easily he had broken things off with Angela when she hadn't wanted to stay in their small town, forgoing college and becoming Mrs. Benjamin Whateverhislastnamewas. Instead Angela had gone to college in Seattle, majored in journalism and then made her way into the world. So what if it hadn't immediately panned out? She was enjoying herself and if Ben didn't like that, he could go 'love' himself.

Angela snorted and Bella schooled her expression.

"Sorry."  
"Nah, don't be. I think I'm over him."

Bella's reaction was to lean over the counter and hug her friend.

"Need help with those cookies?"  
"Ang, you've been here all night. Go home, sleep, and shower. Please don't make me feel like a slave driver."  
"I'm meeting with my editor soon to be paid. I'll go home after, promise."

Angela laughed.

"What time do you want me to come over tonight?"

It was Bella's turn to laugh

"I don't. I want you to get a good night's sleep or go out and have fun. You've started to become as pale as I am!"

She exclaimed causing Angela to laugh along. It was true, while both girls were pale, Angela was still more tanned than Bella who liked to joke that she was half albino, she was that pale!.

"And the animal drinkers' cookies?"

Bella shrugged


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Don't have too much fun boys."

Alicia said as a way of goodbye all while shaking her head as if they were two kids goofing around during class instead of grownups.

" _She_ works for _you_?"

Garrett asked while laughing. Jasper shook his head.

"She's my self appointed mother. She takes care of pretty much everything for me including myself."  
"Has she met Bella yet?"  
"I have managed to keep them apart."

Jasper waited until the heavy doors were firmly closed and Alicia's scent gone before he turned back to his friend.

"What happened last night?"

When he had accompanied Bella to the bakery early that morning the shop didn't smell only of chocolate and candies but also it had the distinct smell of vampire with a strange aftertaste. Not entirely animal and not entirely human. At first sniff Jasper had been sure that Emmett was in the bakery earlier and Angela hadn't the time to air the place after he left, but that human blood confused him.

"The animal drinker showed up, dropped the blood off and then proceeded to eat every single pastry in the shop. Specifically the human blood filled ones."

If Jasper had less control of his jaw, it'd have fallen on the glass topped desk in front of him.

"Huh. What did he look like?"

It would be unbelievably funny if Edward had munched human blood on the side, especially after all the times he had mocked Jasper about the whole thing.

"Tall, built like a double closet, dark hair, was definitely dropped on his head as a child a bunch of times. Angela called him Emmett, she said he attended the same high school as her, if you can imagine!"  
"...Right."  
"Everything alright?"

Garrett was frowning at the younger vampire. Jasper had gone nearly chalk white. And then burst laughing.

"Actually... yes. The whole lot of them are so obsessed over the whole 'bambi and not human thing' that it's weird they're even here."  
"Is it? It seems like the next step"  
"How?"  
"Well, Pete gave me the overview of the situation and you just met Bella a little over a month ago. So the... other timeline life is showing up in this one. Isn't the Cullens showing up the next step in making the two timelines into one?"

Jasper's laughter was cut short. The whole thing made sense.

"So you think that..."  
"You need to grow a pair and not run from the bunny munchers? Yes. Face them on? Yes. Find out why they're here first, and then get your briefs in a wad over it? Yes. Actually talk to Bella because while it's not about her, it includes her whether you like it or not? Yes"

Jasper's only response was to get up, walk to the small hidden fridge and take out a blood bag and pour two glasses of AB Neg. He went back to the table and gave one glass to his friend.

"Okay. How do I do that?"  
"You know them better than me. You know how they act and what they do. I think you can track them down and get some answers."  
"Ideally before Bella prepares their order too."

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - _**

It really wasn't that hard for Jasper to track down the Cullens. He knew all their aliases and the rate they went through them. He also knew that when all else failed, and when the family couldn't decide on new identities, they swapped around their real names. More often than not they went with the name 'Cullen' (as a thank you to Carlisle for gathering them), but they often went with 'Masen' (because Edward was a whiny brat who wanted his name to be as important as Carlisle's) and to a lesser degree 'Hale' (because Rosalie could be just as whiny as Edward), but never 'Platt' or 'McCarty' or 'Whitlock' or 'Brandon' (mainly because Esme considered herself tied to Carlisle, Emmett didn't care, Alice preferred feeding to Esme's family image and the world would end before Jasper was allowed to even consider his name being used for the 'family'). So Jasper picked up his phone, called the unofficial vampire register of Phoenix and started asking about all the possible aliases the Cullens could have.

It was just his luck that they had chosen to go with Edward's last name. Two couples and a pair of siblings had just rented a two floor penthouse apartment. Without waiting or even thinking about it too much, he went out to find them. Stake out the place, observe them...

... Maybe give Peter or Garrett a shout and make it a group outing too? Grill Garrett a little about why his eyes went pensive every time someone mentioned the name 'Angela'?

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - _**

Meanwhile Charlotte had sauntered into Blood & Chocolate and was talking Bella's ear off while the latter was icing a bunch of candies. The icing was in a frost shade of blue and so sweet that Bella had to stop herself from licking her finger each time she wiped the mouth of the piping bag clean.

"How was the honeymoon?"  
"Exhausting. If vampires could get tired, I'd be."

Bella raised both brows with a smirk.

"Somehow I don't think you mean that the way I'd mean it."  
"Definitely not."

Charlotte replied laughing. She had already told Bella how she and Peter met, how Garrett had taken them in and showed them how to co-exist with humans, how to hunt the vilest of said humans only and make sure they weren't detected. When Peter said it was time to get Jasper out and pass the knowledge to him, she had tagged along with Garrett and the four of them had been like a house on fire. She then told Bella how the club had been Peter's idea and how she had done the promotion for it (apparently vampires liked being told there's a vamp club in town) but now she was bored. The club had grown enough to sustain itself and since it was the night life, she and Peter didn't need to move on unless they wanted to.

"Move on? Move on where?"

Charlotte shrugged

"We usually head down south if Peter is in the mood or somewhere more remote if I have my way."  
"I have to admit, I never thought vampires would settle down in Phoenix or somewhere in the desert. It's just too sunny!"  
"Now that you believe we do exist, right?"

She had also been needling Bella about her disbelief in vampires even though she had joked to Jasper about her father knowing werewolves… or at least crazy people who believed that if the time was right, they'd shapeshift into giant wolves. Naturally the time was never right whenever she visited.

"Yeah well. Tell that to the myths."

The human joked and picked up the tray to carry outside to the shop area.

"Here, let me"

Charlotte was back and sitting on her stool in a second. This time she paid closer attention to Bella as the latter took out from the walk-in fridge another tray, this time of large biscotti, and began assembling ice cream sandwiches with them with a blush creeping up her cheeks and her heartbeat going faster. Ice cream went in the middle of the two biscotti and then rolled in colorful sprinkles down the sides. When assembled, she piled the sandwiches in a long cardboard package to put in a display. Bella was just putting aside the multicolored sprinkles when Charlotte spoke again.

"Do you think you can show me how to do that?"

She asked from her perch on a bar stool on the other side of the counter in the kitchen area of the bakery.

"Baking? Sure. It's not exactly brain surgery. Do you think you can hold off from drinking the blood long enough to help out with the vegetarian order?"

Charlotte went a little green.

"Trust me; it's not even a temptation"


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

While the girls were off doing girly things, not that Charlotte would ever admit that she liked licking the whiskers after Bella was done mixing her ingredients (on the human blood cookies and candies only naturally), the boys were on their reckon mission, playing undead soldiers.

What they found? Nothing. The new Cullen/Masen place was perfectly empty, nothing left behind, no scents even.

"Are you sure you have the right address?"

Garrett asked while hanging upside down from the balcony railings, like a bat. Peter was lounging on one of the bamboo chairs, fidgeting every now and then.

"Boy, these things are uncomfortable. How do humans tolerate them?"  
"I don't think they use them, they just have them to look at"

Jasper joked sitting down on the floor, Indian style.

"Maybe they left?"

Garrett asked again, being the voice of reason. The antics of the other two reminded him why he had left them in the past once Jasper had gotten settled and used to cleaning the streets and eating the lowlife.

"Without their order? That seems a little strange."  
"Didn't you say Emmett ate human blood candies? Maybe daddy dearest packed them out of here as a result?"

Jasper snorted. Carlisle was the one who felt disappointment with every fiber of his being when his 'kids' fell off the wagon, true, but the one who started the talks about moving and really twisted in the knife was Esme., the self appointed mother of fully grown people. Some, like Edward and Alice, lapped it up. Others, like everyone else, found it insufferable. Jasper was sure that it even annoyed Carlisle sometimes but the man never said anything to him about it.

"It was just a bunch of cookies. I still had to go out and have dinner afterwards; I doubt the bunny muncher's appetite was filled"

Garrett drawled. Peter snorted. It was true, while Bella's candies were tasty, they were hardly filling. It was why she sold so many and why the Volturi didn't say anything. Jasper had shown him the correspondence with the Kings in Volterra and the low amount of blood in the recipes, plus the assurance that it wouldn't send anyone to a killing spree had sealed the deal. Along with the assurance that a bakery would open in Volterra.

If Jasper ever grew a pair to let the bakery's very human owner know about that, naturally.

"So, they're out hunting. They'll be in later and smell our smelly asses."  
"We really shouldn't be here for that."  
"Why? They'll force-feed us Bambi and his mother?"

Jasper sighed barely resisting face palming. He loved Peter like a brother, he really did, but sometimes, just sometimes, he wondered whether the big blond fella was a secret twin to Emmett. Their bad sense of humor was too similar to be accidental.

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - _**

At the same time the old red rotary phone Bella kept on the counter, it really did help the old time look the Bake Shoppe was going for, rang. Since Bella was busy with removing the veggie candies from their forms and Charlotte had escaped out to the patio to get away from the stench (and finish licking the chocolate off her fingers in peace), it went unanswered.

Then Bella's cell phone began singing 'First be a woman' from its place next to the counter. Bella threw its general direction a glare but couldn't stop what she was doing. She needed the candies to remain soft enough to be engraved. Charlotte raised a brow at the song, but didn't come back inside. It wasn't her phone after all.

A lone figure sat in the safety of a sports car and watched as three male vampires casually scaled down the building the Cullen apartment was and entered a truck taking advantage of the shadows that lined the quiet street.

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - _**

A pair or rosy red lips pursed in thought. Should the strangers be followed or not? Did they present much danger? Did this shade of lipstick match the look well or did it make her look trashy?

By the time a decision had been made and the red lipstick had been wiped off in favor of a more natural orange hue, the truck had driven away and the three passengers with it, never knowing they had been seen.

When the sleek, black, wall mounted phone rang in the empty apartment, it went to voicemail and a high heeled peep toed pump pressed down on the gas hard. It was time to leave.

 ** _\- - - Blood & Chocolate - - - _**

The sun had set a few minutes earlier and the twilight shades found six people sitting around a table in Bella's bakery. The two human girls were sipping on coffee while the four vampires worked their way into Bella's human blood stash.

"You know, you could turn this place into a cafe if you chose to. Just add a few more tables, keep the blood on tab and let us have a drink while waiting for our order"

Peter proposed around a mouthful of blood. When a thin stream went down his chin, Angela shuddered. For the first time, the big guy looked like a vampire. Tall, muscular, fairly cute, wicked humor and he liked his blood straight up. He could have walked out of any teenage vampire TV show.

"Suck with your mouth closed!"

Charlotte chided. Bella snickered under her breath and then bit the rest of her laughter down at Peter's waggling brows. It seems her brain wasn't the only one dirty enough to make a sex joke out of the reprimand.

"You eat like a child"

Garrett laughed. Angela recovered enough to smile at the ease the vampires joked with each other and then blushed at Bella's knowing grin. The jestering stopped at once when the bell chimed above the doors and a vampire walked in.

Peter pulled himself straight, his smile gone. Jasper frowned at the onslaught of grief, pain and loss the man radiated. Garrett observed but made no move to stop Bella from standing up and welcoming the customer.

Sad golden eyes blinked at the warm welcome.

"I believe my..."

The melodic voice broke. Angela frowned and felt Charlotte put her arm casually along the back of the human's chair.

"...wife, placed an order a couple days ago"

Bella nodded

"I have an order for Esme Masen. Is that your wife?"

The grief got even stronger and Jasper felt himself wanting to weep. He clenched his palms, feeling his nails dig into the skin of his palms, to stop the feeling from overcoming him as Carlisle nodded.

"I have it in the kitchen, if you just gave me a minute"

Bella disappeared and appeared fast, a box of candies in her hands. She was about to ask if he would like it gift wrapped or not when something urged her to ask what had happened. The response was something she hadn't anticipated.

"She killed herself"

The blond man rasped before breaking down in empty sobs leaving everyone else to stare at him open mouthed.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Esme?"

Jasper uttered without thinking. Thankfully Carlisle was too lost in his grief to realize Jasper knew his mate's name, and nodded. Peter's eyes were unfocused causing Charlotte to shift until she was sitting right in front of her mate, protecting both him and the human girl next to her.

Angela had turned to look at Bella who looked equally lost. Vampires could kill themselves? How? Why? They had it made. Realizing that no one would move any time soon, Bella got to action. She reached for the cooler Emmett had left with the blood and took one of the leftover bags. With practiced moves, she grabbed a darkly colored; store name stenciled on; plastic cup and emptied the bag inside it, glad she had gotten her aversion to the smell of it. Quickly she put the lid on and slid a thick straw through the opening. Normally she sold chocolate shakes in that cup but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Cup in hand, she circled out from behind the counter and slowly put the cup in the vampire's hand and pushed the straw between his lips.

"Drink. It'll make you feel better."

Angela shot her a look at the absurdity of the statement and Bella shrugged. Everyone watched as a little bit of color returned to Carlisle's cheeks as he took a few tentative sips.

"It's..."  
"Leftover animal blood. I was going to give it back but you look like you could use some."

Carlisle nodded his thanks and kept taking small sips.

"What happened?"

Jasper asked when Carlisle took a seat and Bella returned to her own, next to him. Peter's eyes focused once again.

"Emo loser and the Tiny Twat got themselves killed."

He said. Carlisle whipped around, only now noticing everyone.

"How do you know that?"  
"I know things"

Peter shrugged casually, amused that daddy vegan didn't seem to mind the nicknames he had given the terrible duo.

"They were supposed to meet us here and together we'd all move to a new place, the candies were for the trip over, but Alice called saying she had a vision and she went to check it out. Then Edward decided he'd go with and they got in a fight with those dogs and-!"

More tearless sobs escaped him, stopping the verbal diarrhea. Angela's eyes widened as she put two and two together. If Emmett Cullen was a vampire, then so was the rest of his family. If they were vampires, who is to say that the local Native reservation legends weren't true too? She had grown up friends with the rez kids and had heard the legends a million times. Since the vampires portion of those legends were true, then so could be the parts that claimed the tribe could transform into wolves.

Damn, she could have paid good money to see the fight between werewolves and the Cullens, who, in her eyes, could easily be taken down a peg or ten. But from that to someone killing themselves over it... Maybe the overly dramatic 'woe is me and my unending life' crap TV brooding vamps kept going on and on about, wasn't too far off…

Privately Peter's thoughts were down the same path as Angela's, with the exception that he would be the one with the pom-poms at the edge of the match supporting the overgrown and foul smelling dogs.

"And your wife...?"

Bella prompted to draw Carlisle's attention away from Peter's gleeful expression before a fight broke in her shop.

"She loved those two more than life itself. She set herself on fire."  
"Must have been a great ventilation system"

Garrett mused thinking back to their break-in of the luxury apartment. A sweet scent revealing that vampires used to be there had remained around the place but nothing more.

Jasper was still opening and closing his mouth wordlessly like a fish, his thoughts going around a million miles per hour. He was seeing things fall into place like a jigsaw puzzle.

Things that had once happened involving Bella, now having happened involving some other nameless and faceless girl. The possible steps his once wife would have taken and how things would have been handled by his never brother. How this would always be the outcome because, quite simply, the La Push werewolves would never let a human death happen without retaliation, and said human death was a foregone conclusion by the human spending so much time around oppressed vampires. His own mortality hit him like a sack of bricks.

His left arm tightened around Bella's body needing her warmth and security. Bella's fingers flexed around the fist that rested against her ribs. Her dark brown eyes were bright as she followed the hints her father had let slip about the unease of the truce between his native friends and some rich townies to Jasper's tale about their could-have-been-lives to Peter's scathing remarks and now to the good doctor's story.

When she spoke again her voice was clear and nearly identical to her father's in measured finality.

"Why don't you take the candies free of charge? Consider it a debt paid in full"

Carlisle had no idea what she was talking about, how could he?, and finished his blood, slowly stood, trying to regain his composure. Running his hands through once neatly combed hair and down the light blue tie, he found and removed the hospital issued identity pin from his jacket breast pocket and put it inside it.

"I'm sorry I cannot accept that miss..."  
"Whitlock. Bella Whitlock"

Throwing a look at the others to keep them quiet, she insisted that she wanted no payment and had no wish to keep the candies, who would eat them?, she walked the still stunned Dr. Cullen out the door and watched as he took a seat behind the steering wheel sleek black town car and drove off following a huge jeep with a cabriolet sports car bringing the rear. She leaned against the now closed glass door with a sigh

"Apparently vegetarian vampires have never heard of carpooling."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Peter and Charlotte had left for the club, hand in hand, a plastic bag hanging from Charlotte's grip containing a box with two cupcakes (human blood in them instead of soft melty chocolate, naturally) inside it.

Garrett had decided he'd keep Angela company during her shift in the bakery, not that anyone expected any trouble, but because he wanted to be there. Angela also wanted him to be there, especially after the little scene he had caused a few hours ago at her place.

 _ **Flashback**_

Garrett had shown up at her door, just as she was about to leave for work. She hadn't even had time to invite him in when he began talking.

"Jasper told me to not come on as strong as I usually come and to not be a bastard because even if you don't remember, you've been nice to him and if it wasn't for you Bella would probably have a harder time dealing with him. So now, I should be less of a bastard than he thinks I am and not see you, pretend I'm not interested, and all that crap, but..."

A small smile had been playing on Angela's lips watching him getting all worked up. Especially since the sun hadn't gone down completely just yet and he was sparkling for all to see. She was about to stop him from talking, or at least tell him to get out of the sun but he opened his mouth again.

"..the fact is I am interested. So...why pretend I'm not? Am I making sense here? No, wait, don't talk. Let me finish"

The vampire took an unneeded breath, placing a hand on her mouth to keep her quiet.

"You know, you should count yourself lucky. Compared to some men out there, I'm a good catch. I'm reliable, I'm affectionate. I am, I'm told, more than averagely good in bed. Passionate and courteous. Imaginative... but not weird or kinky. I promise I won't bite, not unless you ask."

Angela's snort came out muffled.

"I won't annoy you again. Or show up at the bakery... Stop laughing! I'll wait for you to call for me, and if I don't hear from you... that's a shame. Because whatever happens, I think you're absolutely spectacular. See you."

 ** _End Flashback_**

Bella had climbed on Jasper's back for a ride laughing. He hadn't stopped pestering her on why she chose to give his last name to Carlisle instead of her own.

"Jasper, I could hardly let him put two and two together and figure out he knows my dad. Yes, the guy is practically a stranger and yes, you say that Carlisle is a pacifist, but do you really want any more deaths on your conscience? I know I don't."

Jasper snorted under his breath. Trust her to bring conscience into this.

"I don't worry about that darlin'. I wash it often. No, I think you did it because you want to be mine."  
"Dream on"

She laughed and shrieked as jasper broke to a slow run, the air pushing her hair back as if she was on a motorcycle, which wasn't too far from the truth. Jasper's 'slow run' was faster than the average Vespa.

A/N: Ye, yes, I know it's a shortie one, even for me. I have a long-ish one coming next and I needed to separate the two though. Coffee anyone?


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 **February 14th. Valentine's Day.**

Bella opened up her new shop and tried not to feel apprehensive. This was a good thing, she kept telling herself. This bakery had been part of the deal Jasper had secured for her a year ago when she had first hired him to save her original bakery,

And now, a little over than a year later everything was out in the open between her and Jasper, her bakery had been reconfigured and saved, she had everything she'd ever dreamed of and more.

She had love.

And kittens. Her male cat, Tiger, had gotten herself pregnant when Angela had taken him in while she'd travel and they all found out he was a girl. Kittens vampires were surprisingly fond of. Peter walked around with a kitten in his pocket for days until the tiny cinnamon colored furball nearly clawed his eyes on in its haste to get away from Peter and Charlotte and their best try to tear down a wall in their house during their passion.

She had a new friends she could talk to about everything and anything (because nothing short of an interrogation could ever satisfy Charlotte), a business partner that she could depend on (just wait till Angela had to help out with the assorted paperwork two bakeries would need) and a mate who could depend on her and that she could lean on (except for very sunny days and beach trips. Then she'd still keel over from laughter at her friends. In her defense though, so did Angela who often joked that she was lucky to need glasses, for without her lenses, she'd be blinded by the sparkling). Jasper, who had gotten offended the first time Bella burst in laughter over it, had learned to take it as a joke. It helped that Peter, Garrett and Charlotte already did.

The only thing she didn't have was a date for the Valentine's Day ball at the Volturi castle. Once the vampire kings and their wives had found out chocolate, the vampire central town had seen a lot more of them. Usually they went to the bakery and walked out with bloody treats.

However this trip to Italy had worked wonders for Jasper.

Red Investments had already been successful but an alliance with the Volturi helped bring more customers to him. Ever since the couple had landed in Volterra, she had been busy with setting up the bakery while he had been setting meetings with all of the potential clients. The couple had barely any time alone.

Settling into the "Holiday of Love", Bella plastered a smile on her face and watched as her employees did brisk sales all day, stepping in every now and then to show how to tie a bow or to offer a lollipop to some bored looking vampire male who stood like a coat hunger, arms laden with bags, resigned to their fate, while their mate shopped.

With a smile on her face, she sold out the expensive gift baskets that Angela had suggested they put together and in any spare time she had, she listened to Garrett's bitching over Skype for letting Angela rope him into working daylight hours and dealing with hormonal teenagers.

Bella had coughed 'whipped' into her hand and he had snapped the conversation window closed, much to her amusement.

By 5 p.m. it was completely dark outside and Bella was exhausted. The big rush was through. Humans were at home sharing a romantic evening in front of the fire together by now and vampires were at the castle for the ball. Bella sent her employees home and collapsed on a wrought iron chair putting her legs on another one and closing her eyes.

She needed a break.

She must have dozed off because she felt a tentative hand poking her what felt minutes later but according to the clock on the wall it was over an hour later.

A nervous looking delivery man was standing in front of her while another man walked in the store carrying a vase of irises. And then another. And then another.

Bella sat up quickly.

"Scuza"

She said to the delivery man in her less than passable Italian.

"I think you're delivering these roses to the wrong place."

The man looked at his clipboard.

"This is Blood & Chocolate, is it not?"

His English was just as bad, Bella noted with a nod, her heart beginning to blossom with joy and a smile tug on her lips. Quickly she signed at the paper and gave the man a tip along with a box of leftover, normal chocolate candies.

It was funny how the blood ones sold like crazy while the normal chocolate ones tended to not sell as well, and not just here in Vampire Central either. Her mother had joked that it was the name of the bakery. What normal person would visit a bakery that had the word 'blood' on the sign? Bella had laughed and told her mother it was a private joke.

When the delivery truck drove away, the bakery was filled with vases of flowers of every color and on every available surface. On the floor, on the counter, on every shelf.

Bella reached for the cell phone in her pocket to call Jasper to thank him for being the most wonderful boyfriend in the world, but before she could wind through the vases of flowers, four men in tuxedos walked through the door carrying musical instruments.

Hardly able to believe what was happening, the string quartet began to serenade her with her favorite symphony. Tears pooled in her eyes and she had to lean against her display counter to stay steady.

No doubt about it, Jasper was the most romantic, wonderful boyfriend in the whole world, with only a side sprinkle of creepiness, for even though the display was wonderful, she did feel like she was on display for any passerby to see.

When the creepiness was about to overcome the joy, the glass doors opened again and the man she loved walked through the door. She shook her head laughing and jumped in Jasper's arms and he swept her up against him and kissed her passionately.

"Happy Valentine's Day, darling."

He said and she kissed him back with all of the love in her heart. Almost silently the music changed and the string quartet began playing smooth jazz, leaving the couple alone enough to talk and give each other soft kisses and murmured words of love.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Jasper. How did you...?"  
"I couldn't have done it without our friends you know."  
"I should have known that Angela wouldn't let Garrett work a day shift. The humans would drive him up the wall."

Bella laughed and watched as four more people entered the bakery and moved to hug them all. Angela was the only one huddled in a coat and gloves making Bella glad she wasn't the only one cold. Only someone was missing.

"What did you do with my cat?"  
"You'll be pleased to know that this one not only smuggled them through two flights here but he also started all fireplaces at the apartment in the castle you were given but has an endless supply of food prepared for them by human chefs. I don't think the cats will ever come home with us. Or that the paper Trio will let them"

She pointed to Peter who looked utterly pleased with himself. Bella snorted at Angela's term for the Kings (whom she had no problem imagining were cuddling with cats, they were after all very nice to her even before she plied them with blood and chocolate)and gave him a mock glare.

Two flutes were filled with golden campaign while four more had more than enough blood in to change the color to a burgundy one.

"To us."  
"To love."  
"To happiness."  
"To friendship."  
"Can't we just drink?"  
"Garrett!"

A head slap followed by laughter followed by the sound of drinking filled the room while the music played. Because there it was, the kind of sweet, passionate love, and more than that, truthful, that lasts forever between lovers and friends.

Or something close to it, anyway.

 _ **The End**_


End file.
